UPDATES with opening news conference
A reconstructed Prussian palace will open in Berlin on Wednesday as a museum complex housing colonial artifacts, just as debate is gathering pace around the return of treasures plundered from abroad.
The opening ceremony for the Humboldt Forum, which will house attractions including the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, will take place virtually due to restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Launched in 2013, the huge renovation project in central Berlin has been plagued by delays, controversy and spiralling costs much like the capital s ill-fated new international airport that opened in October.
Critics have seized on the new building being home to a museum housing nearly 20,000 artifacts from Africa, Asia and Oceania, mostly from the former colonies.