The beginnings of the Museum of Ethnology date back to the Cabinet of Art and Rarities belonging to the Electors of Brandenburg. As early as the seventeenth century they collected not only works of European art but also rare objects from distant parts of the world. They eventually formed the Royal Prussian Art Cabinet from which, in 1829, the “Ethnographic Collection” was created. This collection then moved into the Neues Museum on Museum Island.
The Museum of Ethnology itself was founded in 1873. In 1886 it moved into its own building in Stresemannstrasse and acquisitions from throughout the world systematically increased the museum’s possessions.
The building in Stresemannstrasse was destroyed during World War II. As a result all surviving objects which had been removed for safekeeping were reunited after the war in the former storage building in Dahlem. By 1970 new extensions had been completed providing facilities not only for the Museum of Ethnology but also for the Museums of Far Eastern and Indian Art.
The Museum has a small Andamanese collection by one Mr. Jagor.

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