The Alte Nationalgalerie houses paintings and sculptures from the 19th century. It was the first building on the Museum Island to be reopened in 2001. Together with the Altes Museum, the Bode Museum, the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Museum, it forms the ensemble of Berlin's Museum Island, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 and is one of the shining highlights of Berlin's museum landscape.

The Alte Nationalgalerie is one of the five pillars of the National Gallery, along with the Neue Nationalgalerie with 20th-century art, the Museum Berggruen with works of classical modernism, the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart - Berlin with contemporary art and the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, which houses 19th-century sculptures.

It is considered a comprehensive collection of epochs for art between the French Revolution and the First World War, between Classicism and Secessions. The great harmony between the collection and the museum building is unique.