Foollowing reconstruction work, Berlin's Museum Island is expected to become a venue to rival the British Museum and the Louvre.

Although Berlin's Museum Island is currently undergoing extensive reconstruction and refurbishment that is expected to take 15 years, art lovers in Japan can get a taste of what the finished product will look like thanks to an exhibition being held here next year.

``Visions of the Divine in the Sanctuary of Art-Masterpieces of the Museum Island, Berlin'' will be held in Tokyo from April and in Kobe from July as one of the highlights of the ``Germany in Japan 2005/2006'' celebrations, being hosted by the governments of Japan and Germany to commemorate next year's 15th anniversary of the reunification of Germany.

The exhibition, co-sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun, will be the first in the world to showcase Museum Island, which, after its renovation, is expected to become a symbol of the reunification of Germany and a world-class museum rivaling the British Museum and the Louvre.

The Prussian Cultural Foundation plans to bring together the collections of 10 museums and art museums that used to be housed separately in East and West Berlin. ``Masterpieces of the Museum Island, Berlin'' will present about 160 select artworks to convey the essence of the cultural landmark's future image.

Museum Island, home to five museums, sits on a sandbank in the Spree River in the former East Berlin. The first public museum-now known as the Altes Museum, or old museum-was completed on the island in 1830 to exhibit collections of the Prussian royal family centering on ancient Greek and Roman statues. As a result of ambitious excavations conducted in western Asia and Egypt among other places, the Altes Museum became too small to house the growing collection. A second museum, the Neues Museum (new museum), was built behind the first, followed by the Bode Museum.

Berlin's ``sanctuary of art,'' created during a period of more than 100 years, was completed with the inauguration of the fifth museum, the Pergamon Museum, in 1930. There, visitors could view an unprecedented array of fine exhibits, ranging from the Altar of Pergamon, which captures the splendor of ancient Mediterranean civilization, and the portrait head of Queen Nefertiti, a renowned masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, to paintings by Italian Renaissance and Dutch old masters. Completion of Museum Island marked the founding of a cultural complex that offered an overview of the artistic heritage of mankind not found even in Paris or London at the time, and Berlin thus won the attention of all of Europe.

But as the Nazis gained power in the early 20th century, many of the modern European paintings branded ``degenerate art'' were confiscated and sold. When World War II broke out, the artworks either were relocated to save them from the fires of war or became dispersed. Although they were returned from the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and other nations in stages after the war, the collections were stored separately in East and West due to the partition of Germany. Furthermore, the buildings on Museum Island were bombed, and many lay in ruins.

In November 1989, the Wall that had divided East and West Germany was torn down. The Federal Republic of Germany was officially founded the following year with Berlin as its capital. Although the people rushed to reconstruct Berlin, it was not until 1999 that plans to refurbish Museum Island got under way, the same year the landmark was listed as a World Heritage site.

Currently, just three of the five museums are open to the public. The Neues Museum, which was destroyed by bombs, and the Bode Museum, located at the tip of the island, are under reconstruction. In addition, the artworks at the other three museums are moved frequently due to the refurbishment work.

The Museum Island project will be completed in 2015 at an estimated cost of 1 billion euros (137 billion yen). The museums, to be connected by underground passages, will together present a magnificent collection embracing 6,000 years of Western civilization, from ancient Egypt, western Asia, Greece and Rome to modern European paintings and sculptures.

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``Visions of the Divine in the Sanctuary of Art_Masterpieces of the Museum Island, Berlin'' will be held April 5-June 12 at Tokyo National Museum, July 9-Oct. 10 at Kobe City Museum.(IHT/Asahi: January 1,2005)