Gaslaternen Freilichtmuseum Berlin

The Gas Lantern Open-Air Museum Berlin sits on the edge of the Großer Tiergarten, near the Tiergarten S-Bahn station. Opened in 1978, the collection features historic gas lanterns that originally came from Berlin as well as from German and European cities such as London, Bruges, and Zurich. The exhibit traces the development of urban street lighting, which began in Berlin in 1826 with the installation of imported Camberwell lanterns. These early lamps were the first to light the Unter den Linden boulevard and marked the start of gas street lighting in the Prussian capital.

Visitors can admire a variety of historic models here, including the so-called Schinkel lantern, which takes its name not from the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel but from the neoclassical decorative elements of the Schinkel era. The Friedrich Siemens candelabra, known as the Viktoria mast, is also part of the collection. The lanterns come with information boards explaining the technical and historical details of each piece. The atmosphere is rounded out by park benches whose backrests bear a quotation from the writer Erich Mühsam.

After more than two decades outdoors, the exhibits were extensively restored in 2006, repainted, and fitted with new parts. Even so, the condition of the lanterns again deteriorated considerably in the following years, partly due to vandalism. Because the future of the exhibit is uncertain, operation in its previous form has been discontinued. Today only a small number of the lamps are still in service, while other pieces have been handed over to the German Museum of Technology for storage or are considered damaged.