Museum
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Berlin, Germany · founded 1830
Museum in Berlin, founded 1830. 25 people in the register connected with it.
The Cypriot collection
The Antikensammlung holds over 1,200 surviving Cypriot objects (Early Cypriot to Roman) after Second World War losses; the Münzkabinett 382 coins; the Vorderasiatisches Museum the Sargon II stele; the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte a large further group including the Ohnefalsch-Richter/Weisbach collection. Karageorghis called it one of the most important Cypriote collections in Europe. (2012)
History
- 1845Ludwig Ross bought limestone statuettes at Idalion for the Berlin museum; after his departure the Prussian consular network (Jacob Mattei) secured the Sargon II stele found at Larnaca in late 1845.
IdalionLudwig RossJacob MatteiMasson & Hermary 1988, pp. 3-5Recke 2012
- 1851Julius August Schönborn bought about 20 vases and terracottas and a bronze satyr statuette on his 1851 Cyprus journey and presented them to the Berlin Museum after his return.
CyprusRecke 2012
- 1859–1863Objects from the Nachlass of Ludwig Ross entered the Royal Museum, including a Kition kouros head (M.I.7521), an Idalion torso (Sk. 508), an alabaster triad (Misc. 7516) and statuette 7524.
- 1869Carl Friederichs, director of the Antiquarium since 1868, travelled to Cyprus in autumn 1869 (with the help of the US ambassador George Bancroft, per Masson) and bought stone objects, bronzes, terracottas, gems and glass from Luigi Palma di Cesnola (about 180 objects per Recke). A further purchase in 1870 came from the Pierides collection.
LarnacaKarl (Carl) FriederichsLuigi Palma di CesnolaMasson 1996Recke 2012
- 1878Gazetteer lists 1878 Antiquarium acquisitions from the collections of H. Lang at Larnaca, Albert Barré and Cesnola (from Paphos).
CyprusRobert Hamilton LangAlbert BarreLuigi Palma di CesnolaRecke 2012
- 1885Adolf Furtwängler's Beschreibung der Vasensammlung im Antiquarium, which includes the Cesnola vases of 1869, is the only museum catalogue to treat the Cesnola vases.
BerlinAdolf FurtwänglerLuigi Palma di CesnolaMasson 1996Recke 2012
- 1885Julien Gréau sold items to the Egyptian department of the Königliche Museen (lots 854-855, ÄM 8691-8692, now Misc. 8422-8423), as cited in Franken 2011.
- 1887About 500 objects from the Aphrodite sanctuary at Idalion, dug by Ohnefalsch-Richter for Charles Watkins, were bought by the Berlin museums; about 300 Marion necropolis objects (Watkins/Ohnefalsch-Richter excavation of 1886) were bought the same year at a Paris auction.
Idalion; MarionMax Ohnefalsch-RichterCharles F. WatkinsRecke 2012
- 1888Purchase through Ohnefalsch-Richter of finds (about 170 objects) from a sanctuary at Limniti.
- 1889The Royal Berlin Museums obtained a British permit to excavate at Idalion (eastern acropolis) and the Prussian government/Museums one for Tamassos, with Ohnefalsch-Richter as field director; Richard Schöne, director general, wrote to the Chief Secretary on 7 February 1889. Samuel Brown was hired as the Museums' agent for the Idalion permit but left before acting. The grant provoked protest in London (25 February 1889) and lobbying against it by Alexander Murray of the British Museum.
Idalion; TamassosMax Ohnefalsch-RichterRichard SchöneSamuel BrownA. F. G. LawSchmid 2025Kiely & Merrillees 2012
- 1890Wilhelm Dörpfeld toured Cyprus with Ohnefalsch-Richter for the German Archaeological Institute and made a photographic record; British officials treated the Institute's and the Berlin Museums' permit requests as separate matters.
CyprusWilhelm DörpfeldMax Ohnefalsch-RichterSchmid 2025Recke 2012
- 1893Emperor Wilhelm II granted substantial funding for a new campaign; Furtwängler was asked to oversee it. Ohnefalsch-Richter was in turn required to publish Tamassos und Idalion, which never appeared.
- 1894–1895Excavations at Idalion (about 300 objects to Berlin) and Tamassos-Lambertis (Virchow-Stiftung money; finds in Bonn, the Berlin Antikensammlung, Nicosia and Cambridge) with Furtwängler sent to supervise and partition the finds.
Idalion; TamassosMax Ohnefalsch-RichterAdolf FurtwänglerRudolf VirchowRecke 2012Masson & Hermary 1988Schmid 2025
- 1896Ohnefalsch-Richter sold his remaining collection to the Berlin banker Valentin Weisbach after selling at the Berlin Gewerbeausstellung of 1896; the Weisbach collection later reached the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (via Leipzig and East Berlin).
- 1910Robert Zahn dug at Rantidi (Paphos) in September-October 1910 for the Prussian Academy; also in 1910 Kleanthis Pierides offered Zahn a stone statuette from the Sphalangiotissa sanctuary ('Artemis', £120), sale not confirmed.
RantidiRobert ZahnKleanthis PieridesRecke 2012Schmid 2025Hermary 1990, pp. 23-24
- 1932The director general of the Staatliche Museen wrote on 19 September 1932 about Robert Zahn's work on the Tamassos und Idalion manuscript, the last document in the 'acta Ohnefalsch'.
BerlinRobert ZahnSchmid 2025
- 1936–1937Purchase of about 150 objects, mostly vases, from the Kouzantonos (Kantsantonos) collection; the Berlin collections were the only ones to enlarge their Cypriot holdings substantially in these years.
- 1971Exhibition 'Schätze aus Zypern. Kunst aus acht Jahrtausenden', Berlin (Altes Museum, East Berlin), catalogued by the Ministry of Culture of the GDR and the Staatliche Museen.
BerlinRecke 2012
- 1976The Weisbach/Ohnefalsch-Richter collection of about 1,800 objects passed from Leipzig to the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte, East Berlin (Recke gives 1974 for the Leipzig handover); it came to the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in 1992.
BerlinRecke 2012
- 1992Antikensammlung acquired material from the de Clercq collection, Paris.
BerlinRecke 2012
- 1998Karageorghis reported that the whole Berlin Cypriote collection, damaged in the Second World War and partly taken to Moscow, was reunited in the Bodestrasse museum, and that publication plans were being revived.
- 2001–2002Brehme, Brönner, Karageorghis, Platz-Horster and Weisser published Ancient Cypriote Art in Berlin (Nicosia 2001; German version Antike Kunst aus Zypern, Berlin 2002), launched with an A. G. Leventis Foundation symposium in the Gropius Bau in April 2002.
BerlinSylvia BrehmeMelitta BrönnerVassos KarageorghisBernhard WeisserRecke 2012Karageorghis 2002
- 2009Permanent display opened in the Neues Museum covering 335 sq m, showing the Cypriot collections of the Antikensammlung and the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte together.
BerlinRecke 2012
- 2013Karageorghis, Poyiadji-Richter and Rogge (eds), Cypriote Antiquities in Berlin in the Focus of New Research (Berlin 2013), reviewed by A. Hermary in CCEC 44 (2014).
People
25 peopleStaff and members · 17
- Ludwig Rossdonor (1845–1863) · acted for it · bequeathed objects · gave objects · sold objectsMasson & Hermary 1988, pp. 3-71845–1863
- Jacob Matteiacted for it1846
- Eduard Gerharddirector of the sculpture and plaster-cast section1855
- Karl (Carl) Friederichsdirector (1868–1871) · acted for itMasson 19961869
- Alexander Conzedirector (from 1877) · director of the sculpture collectionSchmid 20251877
- Adolf Furtwänglercurator (1880–1894) · assistant in the Sculpture collection from 1880, at the Antiquarium from 1882; extraordinary professor 1884 · catalogued its collection · worked for itRecke 2012Schmid 20251880–1894
- Richard Schönedirector (from 1880) · Director General (Generaldirektor)Schmid 20251880
- Max Ohnefalsch-Richterfield-director (1887–1895) · field director of the Tamassos and Idalion digs (1889, 1894-95); main supplier of Cypriot material · acted for it · dug for it · sold objectsSchmid 2025Recke 20121887–1895
- A. F. G. Lawacted for it1889
- A. S. Mavrogordatoacted for it1889
- Samuel Brownother (1889–1889) · acted for itKiely & Merrillees 20121889
- Wilhelm Dörpfeldother (1890–1892)Masson 1985, p. 201890–1892
- Robert Zahncurator (1908–1932) · assistant keeper (archaeologist) · worked for itSchmid 20251908–1932
- Sylvia Brehmecurator (2001–2002) · catalogued its collectionKarageorghis 20022001–2002
- Stefan G. Schmidother (2018–2025)Schmid 20252018–2025
- Melitta Brönnercurator (1999–2008)Recke 2012
- Norbert Frankencurator (2011–2011)Franken 2011, pp. 51-65
Donors and lenders · 1
- Julius August Schönborndonor (1851–1851)Recke 2012
Sellers and consignors · 6
- Luigi Palma di Cesnolasold objects1869
- Julien Gréausold objects1885
- Paul Lambrossold objects1887
- William Talbot Readysold objects1892
- Kleanthis Pieridessold objects1910
- Valentin Weisbachseller (from 1896)Recke 2012
Others connected · 1
- Vassos Karageorghiscatalogued its collection1998–2002
Objects
Stele of Sargon II of Assyria, basalt, 211 x 71 x 33 cm, dated 707 BCE
VA 968from Larnaca (Kition), probably near the rampart by the Phaneromeni churchvia Jacob Mattei1846Merrillees 2016
Limestone kouros head, Kition, 17 cm, from Ross's Nachlass
M.I.7521from Kitionvia Ludwig Ross1859–1863Masson & Hermary 1988, p. 6
Bronze tripod ornamented with bull's heads (Lawrence-Cesnola sale lot 164)
Misc. 8397via William Talbot Ready1892Masson 1996
Bronze mirror showing the facade of the Temple of Paphos (lot 284)
8394from Paphos (per sale catalogue)via William Talbot Ready1892Masson 1996
Idalion stater (Münzkabinett), ca. 500-480 BCE
18217980Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,…
Salamis stater of Euelthon, ca. 560-525 BCE (Münzkabinett)
18217660Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,…
Paphos coin of Stasandros, ca. 450 BCE (Münzkabinett)
18217659Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,…
On Ancient Cyprus
1 pageSources
- 1.Matthias Recke (2012). “Deutschland und das antike Zypern. Beiträge zur Geschichte einer archäologischen Disziplin”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42.
- 2.Stephan G. Schmid (2025). “Was there an official German interest in the archaeology of Cyprus between 1878 and 1914?”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960, 69-92. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
- 3.Olivier Masson (1996). “La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 25, 3-32. Online
- 4.Robert Stuart Merrillees (2016). “Studies on the provenances of the stele of Sargon II from Larnaca (Kition) and the two so-called Dhali (Idalion) silver bowls in the Louvre”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 46, 349-386. Online
- 5.V. Karageorghis (1998). “Cypriote Antiquities in Foreign Museums”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 28, 118-119.
- 6.V. Karageorghis (2002). “Nouvelles archéologiques. Cypriote Antiquities in Foreign Museums”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 32, 3-4.
- 7.O. Masson, A. Hermary (1988). “Le voyage de Ludwig Ross à Chypre en 1845 et les antiquités chypriotes du Musée de Berlin”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 9, 3-10. Online
- 8.O. Masson, A. Hermary (1988). “Le voyage de Ludwig Ross à Chypre en 1845 et les antiquités chypriotes du Musée de Berlin”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 9, 3-10. Online
- 9.N. Franken (2011). “In neuem Licht. Zyprische Bronzen in der Antikensammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin”. Archäologischer Anzeiger.
- 10.H.-G. Buchholz (1989). “Max Ohnefalsch-Richter als Archäologe auf Zypern”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 11-12, 3-27.
- 11.T. Kiely, R. S. Merrillees (2012). “The archaeological interests of Samuel Brown, government engineer, and his circle of acquaintances in late nineteenth-century Cyprus”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42, 245-272. Online
- 12.Antoine Hermary (1990). “Ohnefalsch-Richter à Amathonte”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 13, 21-26.
- 13.V. Karageorghis (ed.), E. Poyiadji-Richter (ed.), S. Rogge (ed.) (2014). Cypriote Antiquities in Berlin in the Focus of New Research.
- 14.O. Masson (1985). “Les visites de Max Ohnefalsch-Richter à Kouklia (Ancienne-Paphos), 1890 et 1910”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 3, 19-28. Online
- 15.“Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett, Idalion stater, object 18217980”. ikmk.smb.museum. Online
- 16.“Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett, Salamis stater of Euelthon, object 18217660”. ikmk.smb.museum. Online
- 17.“Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett, Paphos coin of Stasandros, object 18217659”. ikmk.smb.museum. Online