An archaeological exhibition devoted to the Bronze Age was held in the General Staff building.
“Galich Idol”.
First half of
the 2nd millennium BC.
Bronze
The years-long joint research project, in which Russian and German archaeologists participated, resulted in the exhibition held within the framework of the German-Russian Year.
On display were around 1800 exhibits from the archaeological collections of the State Hermitage, the State Museum of History and the Museum of Ancient History and Antiquities (Berlin), including the world famous Maikop burial-mound, Galich and Borodinsky treasures, as well as the Koban culture antiquities of the Northern Caucasus. The monuments, the location and destiny of which underwent dramatic changes as a result of the tragic events of WWII, are of no less importance. These displaced collections – the treasures of Troy and the hoards discovered on modern-day Polish and German territories, – which until recently have been inaccessible for study, are currently kept in the Hermitage, the State Museum of History and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. For the first time ever visitors and experts attended the exhibition, which brought together the materials dating from the Bronze Age in Western and Eastern Europe. One of the exhibition goals was to reunite the complexes and monuments of art and demonstrate them on a full scale to the general public and specialists alike. However, the display pursued more than one objective, since the concept of the exhibition was conceived as being far more complicated and having multiple meanings. Actually, it sought to demonstrate the distinctive features of ancient European history development at the age, which despite experiencing obvious difficulties and obstacles, was marked by a larger degree of openness, greater human interaction in the spiritual sphere, striving for the exchange of technical achievements and breaking the ground in various spheres of life. Due to the exhibition, much of what had for a long time existed as uncoordinated and hidden treasures, was made accessible to the general public. Considering the ongoing debate over the identity of these archaeological collections, their joint display in a single exhibition space demonstrated the opportunities for the coordinated work by Russian and German museum workers.
