Berlin's historic Bode Museum to reopen this week

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) Germany's historic Bode Museum is set to reopen this week after more than five years of renovation, displaying its original collection of paintings, furniture and sculptures for the first time since World War Two.

The neo-baroque building, located on the ''Museum Island'' in the heart of the German capital, suffered heavy damage during the War, when its collection was divided up and stored. It was largely neglected by the former East German government.

The museum features work by artists including German Gothic sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, who lived in the late 15th and early 16th century and is known for his wood carvings, and 17th century Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The Bode, which reopens tomorrow, is the second of five museums to be fully restored on the city's Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world's largest cultural complexes which attracted some two million visitors last year.

The 6,600-square-meter museum was restored at a cost of 162 million euros (203 million dollar), and reunites a collection that was divided up and stored during the War.

''This wonderful collection is now together again,'' said Arne Effenberger, director of the Sculpture Collection and the Museum of Byzantine Art, which belongs to the Bode.

It was only when renovation started that workers realised how badly damaged the building was and that it was close to collapsing, Effenberger added.

The museum, formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, was founded in 1904 by Wilhelm von Bode, after whom it was renamed in 1956.

The whole island is expected to be completed by 2015, when it is expected to draw some 4 million visitors a year. The total cost of the renovation is set to be some 1.5 billion euros (1.88 billion dollar), paid for by the government.

REUTERS DKA ND1014