UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Berlin
The fifth federal state in our series of UNESCO World Heritage Sites is Germany’s capital city. The two sites represent two very different eras from a historical, architectural and urban planning point-of-view.
Museum Island (1999)
The Berlin Museum Island (Museumsinsel) is a district in central Berlin, hosting five museums of outstanding historical and artistic importance. UNESCO notes that the museums, which were built between 1824 and 1930 by the most renowned Prussian architects, represent the realisation of a visionary project and the evolution of the approaches to museum design over this seminal century. They form a unique ensemble that serves purely museological purposes and constitutes a town-planning highlight in the urban fabric as a kind of city crown.
Thus, the Museumsinsel, linking interiors with fascinating historical exhibition and exteriors of architectural brilliance, is one of the significant and most impressive ensembles in the world.
It was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1999.
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (2008)
The set of housing estates in the Berlin Modern Style are an outstanding representation of Berlin housing policies from 1910 to 1933, particularly during the Weimar Republic — a time of political, social, cultural and technical progressiveness.
According to UNESCO, the housing estates reflect, with the highest degree of quality, the combination of urbanism, architecture, garden design and aesthetic research typical of early 20th century modernism, as well as the application of new hygienic and social standards. The construction of the estates is based on the planning of some of the most prominent architects of German modernism. The result is a distinct synergy of architectural and technological innovation, urbanism and aesthetics.
The properties were announced World Heritage site in 2008.
