Granted UNESCO National Heritage Site status in the year 1999, Berlin's Museum Island was designed to be "a sanctuary of art and science". The island is home to no less than five of Berlin's major museums.
The museums that make up Museum Island are located on the northern part of the Spreeinsel (Spree Island). Together this cluster of grand museum buildings form one of the world's greatest museum complexes.The history of Museum Island started with King Frederick William III who, in 1810, commissioned the creation of a public museum on Spree Island. In 1822 Karl Friedrich Schinkel drew up plans to develop the island, and a first museum building, the Royal Museum (now the Altes Museum) opened in 1830. The museum was built to allow the general public to view the royal art treasures of Prussia. It was the first such museum in the country. But the idea for a museum island wasn't devised until around 1841, when Friedrich August Stüler proposed the idea to create a cultural center on the island, which was lauded by all. The architect also designed the Neues Museum (New Museum), which opened in 1859 as the Royal Prussian Museum. The year 1876 saw the completion of the National Gallery (now the Old National Gallery). The Kaiser-Friedrich Museum (today the Bode Museum) was added in 1904 and the final museum, the Pergamon, was completed in 1930.