The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Galleries and Cultural Collections

The National Museums in Berlin are amongst the top cultural collections and art galleries in the world. The Pergamon and Gemäldegallerie (Picture Gallery) are the most popular.

photo credit: Spigoo

The cultural and art collections of the 17 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums) cover a wide spectrum of topics with astonishing quality. The museums are mostly located in four geographical areas in different parts of Berlin. Museums in a given area usually have a combination admission ticket. The four main areas are – Museum Island (Museumsinsel) , the Cultural Forum, Charlottenburg, and Dahlem. The Hamburg Bahnhof Museum of Contemporary Art is not in these groupings but also very popular with foreign visitors.

State Museums in Berlin Mitte, Museumsinsel

Berlin’s Museum Island is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list and houses some of most popular museums in Berlin. The museums here were built between 1830 and 1930. Second World War damage can still be seen on some buildings although all have been / are being restored.

• The Pergamon Museum is the most popular museum in Berlin. It encompasses the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the Museum of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Restoration work from 2008 will see different sections closed in turn.
• The Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) displays mostly 19th century European art.
• The Altes (Old) Museum houses a large part of Berlin’s famed Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities) and temporarily the Egyptian Museum.
• The Bode Museum houses the Collection of Sculptures, the Museum of Late Antique and Byzantine Art, the Numismatic Collection, and the Collection of Classical Antiquities.
• The Neues (New) Museum is closed for restoration up to at least 2009. Until then, the Egyptian Museum is housed in the Altes Museum and the Museum of Pre- and Early History is in Charlottenburg.

State Museums in Berlin Tiergarten – Kulturforum

The Kulturforum is to the south of Tiergarten, across the road from the Berlin Philharmonie, and close to the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz.

• The Gemäldegallerie (Picture Gallery) has an astonishing collection of European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries including 16 works by Rembrandt. It is one of the greatest art collections in the world and consists of works that were split up into different worlds during the Cold War.
• The Neue Nationalgallerie (New National Gallery) has 20th century European paintings and sculptures mostly from pre-1970.
• The Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) is the largest of its kind in Germany with over 500,000 prints and 110,000 drawings spanning works by Dürer to Andy Warhol.
• The Kunstbibliothek (Art Library) has around 350,000 volumes.
• The Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts) has a high-quality collection of items ranging from the Middle Ages to the present.

State Museums in Berlin Dahlem – Museen Dahlem

The museums in Dahlem, all housed in the same building, are famous for ethnology and Asian art.

• The Museum für Völkerkunde (Ethnology) has half a million items from non-European continents. The Junior Museum aims at children between 5 and 12.
• The Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art) has a vast collection of art from especially the Indian subcontinent, Japan, Korean, and China.
• The Museum Europäischer Kulturen (European Cultures) focuses on everyday life from the 18th century to the present. The museum is closed from 2008 to mid-2010.

State Museums in Berlin Charlottenburg

Charlottenburg was the center of West Berlin museums but since the re-unification of Berlin, this area has lost many of its top collections and more will move to Museumsinsel in the near future. Fortunately, Belrin has enough artifacts to fill any space that becomes available.

• The Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Pre- and Early History) has a vast collection of archeological treasures of European and Asian cultures from the Stone to Middle Ages. (The collection will move to the New Museum on Museumsinsel around 2009.)
• The Museum Berggruen display classical modern works. At the heart of the collection is over 100 works by Pablo Picasso and 20 by Henri Matisse.
• The Museum Scharf-Gerstenberg (due to reopen during 2008) focuses on surrealism with works by amongst others Goya, Dalí, and Max Ernst
• The Gipsformerei (Replica Workshop) uses plaster of Paris to reproduce famous works.
• Museum für Fotografie (Photography) recently opened near Zoologsicher Garten station to display the vast collection of photos owned by different museums. It is not that close to the other musums at Schloss Charlottenburg but nonetheless included on the same area ticket.

Hamburger Bahnhof and Other State Museums in Berlin

• The very popular Hamburger Bahnhof is close to the new Hauptbahnhof. It houses the impressive Museum of Contemporary Art.
• The Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Church) is close to Museumsinsel and exhibits mostly 19th-century sculptures.
• In Schloss Köpenick to the southeast of Berlin is part of the Decorative Arts Collection focusing on European furniture and decorations from the Renaissance to Rococo.

Berlin’s State Museums are easily reached on public transportation: the Kulturforum on bus 200, Museumsinsel on bus 100 or 200, Charlottenburg by S-Bahn train, and Dahlem by U-Bahn train.

• See Opening Hours and Ticket Prices for practical visitors information for the Berlin National Museums