Alte Nationalgalerie. The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin is an art gallery showing a collection of Neoclassical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist artwork, part of the Berlin National Gallery, which in turn is part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
   It is the original building of the National Gallery, whose holdings are now housed in several additional buildings. It is situated on Museum Island, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site.
   The first impetus to founding a national gallery came in 1815. The idea gained momentum during the 1830s, but without an actual building.
   In 1841 the first real plans were created. These plans never made it out of the planning stages, but finally in 1861 the National Gallery was founded, after banker Johann Heinrich Wagener donated 262 paintings by both German and foreign artists.
   This donation formed the basis of the current collection. The collection was first known as Wagenersche und Nationalgalerie and was housed in the buildings of the Akademie der Künste. The current building, shaped like a Roman temple with an appended apse, was designed by Friedrich August Stüler and after his death, realised in detail under Carl Busse. Friedrich August Stüler began working on a design for the building in 1863, based on a sketch by King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Two years and two failed plans later, his third proposal was finally accepted. Stüler
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