Let yourself be carried away into the world of art and culture!
Experience the official films of many of the world's greatest museums and cultural sites – all united on a single platform. Directors take you along on their tours of the museums, archives open the doors to their treasure chambers, and scientists present their latest findings. Art, history and culture come alive to build bridges between the worlds and between yesterday and today.
Use the interactive map to navigate the worlds of art and culture. Find out everything about Berlin's Museum Island, the Alhambra, Pompeii, Renaissance Florence, about Durer, Breughel, Rubens, Rembrandt and many more.
Let yourself be carried away into the world of art and culture!
Experience the official films of many of the world's greatest museums and cultural sites – all united on a single platform. Directors take you along on their tours of the museums, archives open the doors to their treasure chambers, and scientists present their latest findings. Art, history and culture come alive to build bridges between the worlds and between yesterday and today.
Use the interactive map to navigate the worlds of art and culture. Find out everything about Berlin's Museum Island, the Alhambra, Pompeii, Renaissance Florence, about Durer, Breughel, Rubens, Rembrandt and many more.
The Alhambra
This is where beauty, history, and different cultures meet. Dominated by the graceful power of the Alhambra Palace on a hill, walking the winding and narrow alleys of Granada itself feels like a trip through different time zones and civilizations. Start from the mighty cathedral through the souq-like market up the historical Albaicín neighborhood, listen to flamenco of street musicians and enjoy the magical view of the Alhambra and the Generalife in the sunset from Mirador de San Nicolas Square.
The Beginnings of the Alhambra
From the Umayyad, or „Moorish“ conquest of the Iberian Peninsula to the heyday of the last Muslim Emirate of Granada: the roots of the Alhambra – city of kings, fortified castle, and most of all splendid palace for the Emirs of the Nasrid dynasty.05:57
The Nasrid Palaces
A tour of Mexuar, Comares, and the Palace of the Lions with their interiors of unequalled splendor. What do the countless inscriptions on the walls say? Plus stories of the Sultans‘ lives between fine arts and murder – including a cold-blooded massacre...20:29
The Colosseum
Conceived by newly elected Emperor Vespasian as a gesture to the people of Rome, the “Amphitheatrum Flavium” far surpassed any venue that had ever been built – it became the mother of all modern stadiums. Wild beasts from exotic colonies, war ships, martyrs, and of course gladiators: there was a wide range of entertainment at the Colosseum. But the members of the macho, military-crazy Roman society expected all of them to involve fighting – and more often than not, death...
Behind the Scenes
A day at the Colosseum would start with venationes, or beast hunts. Exotic animals from far-away colonies were released via a machinery that included stage elevators. But animals didn’t only die on stage – they also performed death sentences…06:05
The Gladiators - Win or Die
Gladiators were at once despised and idolized as antiquity’s rock stars. Experimental archeologist Marcus Junkelmann helps us take a close look at the death-defying heroes of the arena: their weapons and armour, their lives – and their deaths.14:24
The Colosseum on its Way into the Age of Modernity
In the Middle Ages, Rome was a city in ruins; its population had shrunk from 1.5 million to a mere 20,000. People had forgotten about antiquity; the amphitheatre was believed to be a former temple. Then the fate of Christian martyrs was remembered…10:03
Pompeii
In the summer of 79 BCE, one of the greatest natural disasters of antiquity happened: Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried several towns and countless farms and country mansions in ash. Today, no other place gives us such a sense of the ancient world as the excavated remains of those towns.
Power and Politics
What do all the graves outside Pompeii tell us about Roman society? How did elections and the administration work? Did women have any rights at all? And who paid for it all? A close look at politics - and the surprising role of slaves…08:10
Brothels and Baths, Taverns and Theaters
How many brothels were there really in Pompeii? At any rate Roman business men liked to meet in the nude - public baths were popular meeting places. Other diversions were dice, taverns - and the theater. This was the scene of a brawl and an epic scandal…16:55
Death and Destruction: The Great Catastrophe of AD 79
On 24 August AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, killing thousands and destroying towns, villages and countless farms. Pliny the Younger had seen it coming, but many people underestimated the danger. In Herculaneum, more than 300 died a hellish death…05:22
The Pergamon Museum
The most famous museum in Berlin actually consists of three separate museums: the Antikensammlung, the Vorderasiatische Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art. Visitors experience a tour through six millennia, from the beginnings of human culture through classical antiquity to the splendor of Islamic art and architecture.
The Pergamon Altar
The great Altar of Zeus is an unmatched masterpiece of Hellenistic art. Built by King Eumenes the Second in 170 B.C., the frieze depicts the “Clash of the Titans”: the gods of the Olymp, led by Zeus and Athene, fight the sons of Gaea, the Earth Mother.04:21
Ceramic Zodiac Plate
This unique plate was made in Persia in 1563. It shows the signs of the zodiac as handed down from classical antiquity but with clear East Asian influence. This way, it incorporates the fusion of Western and Eastern traditions in Islamic art…02:00
The Berlin Gemäldegalerie
The Gemäldegalerie (German for “Paintings Gallery”) of the Berlin State Museums holds one of the world's finest collections of European art. The exhibition includes masterpieces from every period from the 13th up to the 18th century, by such masters as Dürer, Cranach, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Vermeer – and a full sixteen works by Rembrandt, one of the largest and most exquisite collections of his paintings.
Fantastic Business
Can a portrait tell a whole story? It has to if it is to win a bride! Hans Holbein paints Georg Gisze - and tells us all about his life. Lucas Cranach is a wealthy entrepreneur as well as a master painter. His “Fountain of Youth“ tells of his dreams.07:19
Revolution in Light and Shadow
Michelangelo Merisi was a drunkard and a thug accused of murder – but he was also one of the most brilliant artists of his time, known as Caravaggio. With his outrageously naturalistic and dramatic “chiaroscuro” style, he invented Baroque painting…09:49
