The Museum Island
6,000 Years of Culture and History
Six thousand years of culture and history are illustrated on the Museum Island, a panorama stretching from the Ancient Egyptians and the civilisations of the ancient Near East to Greek and Roman Antiquity and the Christian and Islamic art of the Middle Ages to European art of the 19th Century.
(Status: Febuary 2024)
The New Museum, East Side Entrance © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Photo: Maximilian Meisse
Six thousand years of culture and history are illustrated on the Museum Island, a panorama stretching from the Ancient Egyptians and the civilisations of the ancient Near East to Greek and Roman Antiquity and the Christian and Islamic art of the Middle Ages to European art of the 19th Century. The collections housed in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History extend the timeline even further to cover the whole of human history. Various different cultures come together in the New Museum, rebuilt by David Chipperfield, which houses not only the rich treasures of the Egyptian Museum and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, but also the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Münzkabinett (coin collection) and the Sculpture Collection, examples of all of which are displayed on the main floor to enable visitors to take an impressive tour from the early period of Egypt’s history via the Roman provinces and the Celts and Germanic tribes right through to the High Middle Ages.
The Museum Island is most famous for the large scale architectural exhibits in the Pergamonmuseum, which came to light during German excavations at the end of the 19th century and can be seen as impressive reconstructions in the Pergamon Museum: The Pergamon Altar with the Giant Frieze, the Market Gate from late Roman Miletus and the Processional Way and Ishtar Gate of Babylon.
The Pergamon Museum has been completely closed to visitors since October 2023 due to renovation work, with parts planned to reopen in 2027. In the immediate vicinity of the Museum Island, the temporary exhibition building Pergamon. The Panorama During the period of closure, important artefacts from Pergamon and a panorama by the artist and architect Yadegar Asisi, which dates back to 129 AD and shows the ancient city of Pergamon, will continue to be on display.
View of the James-Simon-Galerie and Pergamonmuseum © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects
The Altes Museum (Old Museum) offers an insight into the worlds of Etruscan, Greek and Roman art. Built during the empire period, the Bode Museum with its striking cupola houses the Sculpture Collection including works from all over Europe dating from the early Middle Ages to Classicism. You can also see Byzantine art of the 3rd to 19th Centuries here, as well as a selection of some of the most valuable coins and medals from Antiquity to the 20th Century in the collection displayed in the Münzkabinett.
The Old National Gallery, rising above the Spree like an Ancient Greek temple, was opened in 1876 to house the contemporary art of the time and today still has painting and sculpture from the 19th Century on show. The highlights are the rooms with the Impressionists and Caspar David Friedrich.
Altes Museum © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Photo: Maximilian Meisse
Don’t Miss
The Pergamon Panorama, Nefertiti and the "Berlin Gold Hat" in the Neues Museum, the "Berlin Goddess", the "Praying Boy" and the bust of Caesar in the Altes Museum, Tilman Riemenschneider's "Four Evangelists" in the Bode Museum, Schadow's double statue of the Prussian princesses, Menzel's "Iron Rolling Mill", Manet's "Winter Garden" and Caspar David Friedrich's "Monk by the Sea" in the Alte Nationalgalerie.
How to Get There
By underground 5 (U-Bahn) to U Museumsinsel station.
Where to Get a Coffee
In the café in the Bode-Museum (above the portico) or in the small cafeteria in the Old Museum. The James-Simon-Galerie entrance building houses the new Cu29 café and restaurant.
To See Everything
The Museum Island area ticket, available in all the museums, is valid for the permanent collections (but not for special exhibitions). From tourist information offices you can get the Museum Island Welcome Card, entitling you to use all public transport and likewise valid for all the permanent exhibitions.
Events
Three of the museums are regular venues in the Long Night of Museums in August. There are occasionally concerts and theatre productions in the stairway hall of the New Museum. During the summer months, there are readings, music and drinks in the colonnades of the Alte Nationalgalerie.