BERLIN—Several government and museum officials in Berlin seem to be unclear about when and whether the city's Gemäldegalerie will remain in its temporary location in the sprawling Kulturforum complex near Potsdamer Platz or will relocate to the city's Museum Island, as originally planned.

Michael Eissenhauer, director general of the Berlin State Museums, made a remark in a Berlin newspaper recently that suggested the move would not take place. After German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann and Berlin Secretary of Culture André Schmitz responded with surprise, he explained that he had only meant the project was not possible "in the foreseeable future."

The Gemäldegalerie (formerly known as the Sammlung Alter Meister or Old Masters Collection) has been located since 1998 at the Kulturforum site, which has been much criticized for being poorly designed and located. A plan was approved four years ago to improve the site, in part by removing an awkward sloping surface that partially obstructs the museum, but the project has been put on hold by the economic crisis.

Read more at the Art Newspaper.