Berlin opens ambitious cultural forum in palace replica

One of Germany’s most ambitious cultural projects is opening to the public

BERLIN -- One of Germany's most ambitious cultural projects, which will feature collections of African, Asian and other non-European art in a partial replica of a Prussian palace that was demolished by East Germany's communist government after World War II, is opening to the public on Tuesday. The Humboldt Forum — located in the heart of Berlin, next to the neoclassical Museum Island complex — was designed by Italian architect Franco Stella and features three replica facades, one modern one and a modern interior. It cost 680 million euros ($802 million). The project results from a 2002 vote by the German parliament to reconstruct the 18th-century palace. The original was demolished in 1950 and later replaced by East Germany's parliament building, itself now knocked down. It will feature exhibits from two of Berlin's state museums, the Ethnological Museum and the Museum for Asian Art. It is starting out with six exhibtions, including one on Berlin's history, another on ivory, and one on brothers Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, the explorer and educator whose name the forum bears.