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BERLIN - A collection of more than 250 surrealist and pre-surrealist artworks that ranges from Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel back to Francisco de Goya opens its doors to the public in Berlin on Friday.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Markus Schreiber

A woman passes the photo "Die Puppe" (The Doll) by artist Hans Bellmer during a press preview of the exhibition 'Surreal Words' of the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection in Berlin.

Titled "Surreal Worlds," the collection of paintings, sculptures and sketches has been installed in the Stuelerbau - a building in Berlin's western Charlottenburg district that previously housed the capital's Egyptian Museum, and which has been given a US$15.6 million overhaul.

The so-called Scharf-Gersternberg collection has its roots in the estate of Otto Gersternberg, who bought a wide range of artwork in the early 1900s. It was expanded by his late grandsons, Dieter and Walter Scharf.

The collection, which is being opened officially on Thursday evening, is on a 10-year loan to Berlin's state museums.

Among the collection's treasures are etchings from late in Goya's career and works by Max Klinger, Max Ernst, Odilon Redon, Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet and printmaker Piranesi. A film program includes work by Bunuel and others.

Berlin museums director Peter-Klaus Schuster described the collection as an ideal complement to the Berggruen museum across the road, whose collection centres on work by Pablo Picasso. The collection will be open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m..