Abschied von Dahlem

Die letzten Tage der Südsee-Abteilung des Ethnologischen Museums Berlin

Abstract

In light of the planned opening of the Humboldt Forum in 2019 and the projected move of about 20,000 objects from Berlin's Ethnological Museum and Museum of Asian Art to the city centre, some departments in these two museums had already been closed on January 11, 2016. This led to a stream of visitors thronging the respective exhibition halls during their 'last days'. Discussions revealed that, moved by strong nostalgic feelings, people wanted to pay tribute to Dahlem's museums to bid them farewell. This paper first sketches the atmosphere in the museums' galleries at the turn of the year from 2015 to 2016. Next, insights are provided into the design process of the Dahlem museums' outstanding interior architecture. Curator Gerd Koch, responsible for the collection regarding the region of the South Seas, strongly influenced not only the selection of objects, but in particular the polygonal shaped display cabinets and their arrangements. In addition, the exhibition space was underlined by a lighting concept that staged the objects by keeping the halls dark to enhance the visitors' concentration on the illuminated showcases. When it was opened in 1970, the Berlin Ethnological Museum's interior architecture drew both national and international attention. Given the forthcoming closure of Dahlem's museums, I argue that their display cabinets will change status and become collectable objects in themselves, as they represent a specific, and now historical material culture regarding these museums. Accordingly these cabinets should be preserved.