Berlin to close the Pergamon, one of Germany's best-known museums, for 4 years

Berlin's Pergamon museum, known far and wide for its exhibits like the Market Gate of Miletus, is set to close for four years in what is a significant loss of the city's so-called museum island. – Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa

In recent years, many visitors to Berlin have already been disappointed to learn that the one of the city's most renowned museum exhibits, the Pergamon Altar, cannot be viewed.

Now, local officials say the entire building housing the altar with its many antiquities must close for at least four years for extensive renovation work.