MAX DUDLER

Together with the stations Rathaus and Unter den Linden, the Museumsinsel station closes the remaining gap on the U5 line between Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz. The station, designed by Max Dudler, will create an entire new location in the cultural heart of the city. This is a place where museum visitors, concert-goers, students from the Humboldt University and tourists will all meet and mingle. The station takes on a social function within the urban fabric and underlines the positive aspects of urban life. 

With its 180 metres in length the underground station runs south of the Schlossbrücke bridge under the Spree canal between its eastern bank and the Kronprinzenpalais. The four public entrances command a strong presence: they are situated near the Deutschen Historischen Museum, the Humboldt Forum and the Kronprinzenpalais. The entrance areas are designed in a restrained way in terms of form and materials and blend into the pre-existing cityscape with its historical buildings. 

Max Dudler deduced the architectural theme for the underground stations from the given situation: subterranean lack of light – eternal night. The two vaulted platform tunnels are painted in a striking ultramarine blue that lights up like a domed night sky thanks to the 6,662 light spots, inspired by the historical stage set design for the Magic Flute by Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1816. At the same time the nod to Schinkel’s theatrical idea is a reference to the neoclassical spirit that characterises the buildings in this district of the city. Atmospherically the space thrives from the effect of this simple yet magical idea. With its natural stone cladding of Kösseine granite, the central plat form is transformed into a pillared hall for the underground guests. The design is defined by the sparing but selective use of materials and their precise fitting and illumination.

The proximity to cultural institutions that include the Staatsoper, the Deutsche Historische Museum and the Hum boldt Forum behind the façade of the Berlin Palace, transforms the underground station Museumsinsel into a cultural site. The rear walls behind the tracks show cohesive photographic works by Stefan Müller and Philipp Arnold that tell the story of the beauty and character of the surrounding architecture. The photographs of the historic buildings, elaborately embellished and bearing marks from past events and influences, provide an interesting counterpoint to Max Dudler‘s abstract and rational clarity. 

The station has been officially inaugurated and handed over to passenger traffic on July 9, 2021

source: Max Dudler