Page 367 - The Secret Museum

The team loved it, Lutz explained. ‘I thought it was impossible and not my work to

do, but every day we had success. So satisfying!’ He continues: At first we found
homes for 30 or 40 fragments a day, then it got harder. As we continued, we got a
feeling for the stone, so that after a year and a half of working with the material we
could identify the pieces of the inner parts of the sculpture. It was like doing a jigsaw
puzzle: you have to get your eye in.’ Once everything was in place it took a year to
firmly glue everything together. The fragments that could not be placed were laid in

boxes labelled with blue stickers. Then tar from the fire was cleaned off the
sculptures with high-pressure dry ice.

I could clearly see each individual fragment that makes up each sculpture. There
has been no attempt to pretend the bomb never happened. The sculptures look very
out of place in the warehouse in suburban Berlin. It felt magical to be standing beside
them, thinking of all they had endured. How lucky they were that a team of restorers
was excited enough to spend nine years restoring these beauties, piece by piece, just
as Oppenheim had hoped, so they could rise like a phoenix out of the ashes.

Relief slabs, stone tools, stone vessels and column bases were reconstructed too.
Some engravings were found along the way. Lutz read me the cuneiform writing on

the sculpture of the weather god, Teshub: it says, ‘Kapara has built this palace and
anyone who destroys his name from this inscription is cursed.’ Lucky for Lutz and his
team that they are the ones who restored the engraving.

Some of the restored sculptures were displayed in a brief exhibition in 2011. Then
they disappeared back into the depot. I like to think of them resting there in the tall,
windowed rooms, surrounded by trees and birdsong. They must need some peace
after all they’ve been through.

Their rest will not last for ever. The Pergamon is building a new wing for them,
due to open in 2025. Then they will go on display. I asked Lutz whether he would be

happy then. ‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘That’s when I plan to retire.’