Since 2006, the German Historical Museum presents its permanent exhibition "German History in Images and Testimonies" in the armoury. The laying of the cornerstone of the armoury took place in 1695 under Elector Frederick III. From 1730 the building served as a weapons arsenal. After the founding of the German Reich in 1871, the house was rebuilt to the Hall of Fame of the Brandenburg-Prussian army. Used by the Nazis as an army museum, the construction was severely damaged in the last months of World War II. Only in 1952 it was reopened as a Museum for German History (Museum für Deutsche Geschichte) of the German Democratic Republic. In 1990, after the peaceful revolution, the Deutsches Historisches Museum moved into the important Baroque building, which today is the oldest surviving building on Unter den Linden.