Elector Frederick III (who became King Frederick in 1701) ordered the foundation stone of the »Berliner Zeughaus« (Armoury) to be laid on 28 May 1695, thus putting into effect a plan conceived by his father, Frederick William, the »Great Elector«, who had expressed the idea of a grand armoury in his political testament of 1667. The first architect was Johann Arnold Nering (1659-1695). He was followed by Martin Grünberg (1655 -1706) and from 1698 to 1699 by Andreas Schlüter (1659-1714). Jean de Bodt (1670-1745) completed the exterior of the building in 1706, but because of lack of funds, it was not finally ready for use until 1730. The Armoury is the oldest building on Unter den Linden, its imposing architecture concealing its simple function as an arms depot. Built at the time of Brandenburg-Prussia's ascendancy, the Armoury was a symbol of military might. It is one of North Germany's most beautiful secular baroque buildings and owes its special place in the history of art to the excellence of its sculptures, in particular the 22 heads of dying warriors created by Andreas Schlüter in the inner courtyard.
The Latin inscription over the main portal describes the purpose of the museum as the »safekeeping of all tools of war and of the spoils and trophies of war.« In 1732, in addition to 604 Prussian canons, the Armoury housed 119 guns plundered from France, Bavaria, Poland, Sweden and elsewhere. Artillery weapons were stored on the ground floor and infantry weapons and mountings on the first floor. In the 18th century the Armoury was the largest arms depot of Brandenburg-Prussia which in the first half of the century had become the foremost military power of all the German states. For one and a half centuries the building was used as a depot and in the course of its history, shared the fate of many armouries: filled, plundered and refilled. In 1760 Berlin was occupied by Russian troops and in 1806 by the French. On both occasions the Armoury was plundered. After the 1813-15 Wars of Liberation the building was restocked with war trophies. The »Royal Collection of Weaponry and Models« housed in the Armoury was opened to the public in 1828. In 1844 the first »General Exhibition of German Industrial Products« was staged in the building. In 1848 the Armoury was stormed, but following the »Unification Wars« of 1864, 1866 and 1870/71, the building was once more filled with war spoils. In 1872 the rooms of the Armoury were used for an »Exhibition of Bygone Arts and Crafts«.
At the behest of Emperor William I, the Armoury was converted in the years from 1877 to 1880 into a Hall of Fame to honour the Brandenburg-Prussian army. The project, which cost 4.33 million marks, was based on plans by Friedrich Hitzig (1811 -1881). Both in concept and realization, the hall is clearly modelled on the Armoury in Vienna. The main structural changes involved in finally converting the old Prussian armoury into a museum included the roofing over the courtyard, the dual-flight staircase, the vaulting on the upper floor and the dome in the middle of the north wing. The artillery and engineering section on the ground floor and the weaponry collection on the first floor were opened to the public in 1883. The decoration of the Hall of Fame, an artistic representation of Brandenburg-Prussia's image of itself, was not completed until 1891. At the end of the 19th century, the military history collections were among the most notable in Europe. A major contribution was the collection of arms bequeathed by Prince Charles of Prussia in 1883. The Armoury became one of the most popular museums in Berlin and was much used by William II. From 1897 onwards the Hall of Fame was the setting for flag ceremonies each year to celebrate his birthday and other occasions.
The end of World War One also saw the end of the monarchy in Germany. The Berlin Armoury, which had previously been under the control of the war ministry, was made part of the »Prussian Art Collections.« The terms of the 1918 Treaty of Versailles called for all the spoils of war from 1870/71 to be returned and other elements of the collection rendered unserviceable. During the Weimar Republic the Armoury played a minor role: the collections were reorganized on a scientific basis so that it could no longer be classified as an »institute of patriotic and military edification.« After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, marches and ceremonies of commemoration were once again held in the inner courtyard and there was a steady return to the values and military traditions of Prussia. Numerous exhibitions were staged on the subject of World War One, re-examining the picture of a war lost as a result of superior weapons technology. In 1939 Adolf Hitler ordered the military museums in Berlin, Dresden and Munich to be taken over by the army. In speeches in the Armoury on Remembrance Day, he called upon the spirit of German heroism. At the end of World War Two this monument to military glory was badly damaged by high-explosive and fire bombs.
On 18 October 1945 the »Armoury War Museum« was dissolved on the orders of Berlin Allied Command. Despite war damage the building continued to be used for exhibitions in the years immediately after 1945. In January 1946 the Armoury housed a trade and industry exhibition entitled »Rebuilding Berlin.« In 1947 the Berlin Art Museum opened in the old »Schlüter building«. Reconstruction began in 1948 with the aim of restoring the building to its original state without the additions and alterations of the 19th century. Initially the project was based on plans by architect Werner Harting (1904-1987) for a »House of Culture.« From September 1950 Otto Haes (1880-1962) was brought in to design a »Museum of German History.« Plans were altered yet again in 1952 when the entire project was placed in the hands of Berlin's »Building Design Office II.« The reconstruction process continued in this chequered fashion until 1967. Externally the building was restored to its original appearance. A steel skeleton was built internally to bear the buildings own weight and working load. In 1952 the central committee of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) established the new Museum of German History in the Armoury, the purpose of which was to impart the Marxist-Leninist version of history. It developed extensive exhibitions and collections in its capacity as central historical museum of the GDR. The museum was dissolved in September 1990.
In 1987 the Federal Republic of Germany founded the »German Historical Museum« in collaboration with the state of Berlin. It was to be housed in a new building designed by Aldo Rossi diagonally opposite the Reichstag. After reunification this plan was abandoned and the museum was established in the Armoury. The building is to be completely renovated from 1995 to 1998. During this operation the intention is to expose the old baroque structures inside the building again wherever possible. Until the refurbishment commences, the German Historical Museum is staging a varied series of exhibitions in the Armoury.