The German Historical Museum’s Zeughaus has served several governments as an instrument for presenting national history. Built as a Prussian armoury, it became a royal military museum, an East German history museum, and finally a museum for a reunified Germany.
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The baroque façade belongs to a building that began as a storehouse for weapons. The Zeughaus’s foundation stone was laid in 1695, and its construction involved four architects before it was completed in 1706. Cannons, muskets, and military trophies were stored here, making the building an emblem of Prussian power.
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- Construction began in 1695 and the building was completed in 1706.
- Andreas Schlüter designed 22 sculpted heads for the courtyard.
- The building housed the GDR’s central history museum from 1952 to 1990.
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