Aufsatz eines Priesterstabes

The Humboldt Forum is a newbuild. Although its appearance recalls that of the Berlin Palace, which stood here for centuries, the history of the site is much more diverse: it has been a residential quarter and a monastery, a parade ground, the site of the East German Palace of the Republic and a meadow. The cellar is the only area where traces dating back to the Middle Ages have been preserved. The remains of walls and archaeological finds attest to the fact that people worked here to ensure the smooth running of everyday life above ground: construction workers laid district heating pipes for East Berlin, boilermen heated the boilers for the imperial palace's heating system, friars stored barrels and museum employees artworks. The soldiers of the palace guard took their breaks here, while maidservants plucked poultry for the queen's cooks. The exhibition shows some of the objects which archaeologists salvaged from the site before construction work began on the Humboldt Forum. The objects are held by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte and the Kunstgewerbemuseum) as well as the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.