Treated Like Cattle in the Gemäldegalerie

No visit to Berlin is complete without a trip to the Gemäldegalerie, one of my favorite museums. On previous visits, I'd never stayed until closing time. This time, I saw what they do there at closing time, and it wasn't pretty. Hence the letter:

Dear Berlin Museums Visitors’ Service,

Recently, I visited the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) in Berlin. The museum advertised that it was open until 18:00, and I decided to stay until that time to enjoy the collection.

I have always enjoyed my previous visits to this elegant museum, but this time was different. 15 – perhaps even 20 -- minutes before 18:00, my ears were suddenly assaulted by an audio message from blown speakers in the museum’s ceiling. Amid crackles of distortion, the announcement played the melody of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ and announced to visitors that the gallery would be closing shortly. The first announcement, in German, was then followed by an equally distorted and almost unrecognizable message in English, then, if I recall correctly, in French.

But that was not all. At the same time, the museum’s docents positioned themselves in all the doorways to the individual rooms, as if they were nightclub bouncers. To actually get into a room at 17:50 and see a painting, you had to convince a docent to let you in. Many of the docents were unfriendly and suspicious, treating visitors who wanted to enjoy a painting at 17:54 as if they were potential criminals. Finally, all the museum’s visitors were herded out of the museum at exactly 18:00, after being pressured to leave.

As I could tell by the visitors’ comments, this unprofessional treatment left a terrible impression that the museum’s visitors will take back to their home countries. When guests pay to enjoy a museum which closes at 18:00, then they should be able to actually enjoy the museum until 18:00.

To improve the visitors’ experience, I suggest that the Gemäldegalerie (1) repair the speakers in the museum ceiling; (2) broadcast only one closing message (everyone will know what it means, even if they don’t understand the language) and do so at, say, 17:57; and (3) give guests 10-15 minutes after the official closing time to leave the museum.

As paying guests in one of the world’s finest collections of Old Masters, they deserve no less.

Sincerely,

Andrew Hammel

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I had to smile when I read your post, if only to discover that I'm not alone in my aggravation with the Berlin museums. My experience at the Neue Nationalgalerie in April was nearly identical to yours. What's more: museum shop workers locked up their cash registers 10 minutes BEFORE the stated closing time, even rolling away postcard and book displays out from under the noses of visitors who were still actively browsing.

[Laurentius]

First, …

I only wanted to point out, that most of these people do not get overly rich by doing what they are doing and that I wouldn't expect them to give up some of their spare time only to excel at their crappy jobs. I never said I pitty them or that anyone should.

Second, …

None of the points you make do in any way speak against what I was trying to say. I never said that the staff should finish at 18:00, but that it would have to work extra minutes if guests were to leave at 18:15.
Where did I say (or even imply) that visitors would have to serve the staff?

Furthermore, …

Well, and I totally agree with him and you on this. Hence I made clear that my post was referring only to Andrew's second last paragraph, where he points out the issue he had with being urged to leave at 18:00 flat.

[Norbert]

All these underpaid museum staff deserve to have a punctual finishing-time.

Sorry, Laurentius, that comment of yours is off the mark.

First, why should it interest the visitor whether the museum staff is underpaid? A visitor paying entrance fee in a museum can expect to be treated well and should not have to feel pity for the museum staff. Otherwise the museum better shut down (and fire all staff) since nobody will want to go there anymore.

Second, as a matter of course, the "punctual finishing" time for the museum staff is NOT the same as the finishing time for the museum visitors. Visitors do have the right to stroll through the museum until the last minute, while being aware that they need to be at the exit by 18.00h. Staff, on the other hand, are supposed to serve visitors (not the other waye round) and therefore have to put up with being able to leave only after 18.00h, when visitors have left, not with or before the visitors.

Furthermore, I think Andrew's complaint here is less about nit-picking over the actual visiting minutes granted, but rather about the lack of courtesy that the staff displayed here towards the visitors. A complaint which seems to be fully comprehensible and constructive criticism, IMHO.

[Laurentius]

Although I've never been to the Gemäldegalerie, I'd have to agree with crackling speakers being an annoyance and somewhat unnecessary looking at todays affordability of quality speakers. Also prematurely barricading the rooms is not very professional.
But what are you on about complaining the museum being closed down at 18:00 when it says it's being closed down at 18:00? It's common practice and imo totally correct. People should be considerate enough to autonomosly move towards the exit five minutes before the place shuts down.
All these underpaid museum staff deserve to have a punctual finishing-time. To expect them to work another 20 mins for free for you to be able to look at one more painting seems awfully snobbish.

[xxx]

Hehe... we now can refer to Andrew as "all cattle and no hat".

[Robert S. Porter]

What we should be more concerned about is the plan to move the Gemäldegalerie to the Bode Museum. The idea is patently absurd. Why they are so keen to ruin a purpose built museum I'll never know. Money, of course, is the answer.

[peter]

It's true, but it happens at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as much as in the Gemaeldegalerie in Berlin. There is just a tad bit too much self-righteousness in this to take it as tongue-in-cheek as it might want to be.

[Austin O'Riley]

Andrew, being treated like cattle instead of being treated like Hammel sure isn't nice. Also, this is the 2nd post in a row where you whine about receiving bad service. It's finally summer, man, relax!