Berlin State Museums Guides & Exhibition Archive

The Berlin State Museums exhibit impressive world-class collections of antiquities, historic objects, and fine art.

The Pergamon Museum and Neues Museum are traditionally the most popular historic museums in Berlin, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (20th-century art) and the Gemäldegalerie (Old Masters paintings) are the top art galleries. The main museum locations in Berlin are on Museum Island, Kulturforum, and the Humboldt Forum (Berliner Schloss).

• This post is primarily an archive and guide link hub for Berlin State Museums and special exhibitions from 2020 to the present.

Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)

Berlin State Museum Basics:

• Top National Museums and Galleries (brief overview)
• Berlin State Museums: What Is Seen Where? 
• Opening Hours (2026)
• Ticket Prices (Buy tickets from GetYourGuide or SMB)
• Save with the Berlin Museum Pass & Berlin Welcome Cards
• Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (official website in German & English)

News & Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin in 2026:

• 2026: Top Special Art Exhibitions at Kulturforum and Special Museumsinsel Exhibitions (Alte Nationalgalerie).
• Museums Closed in 2026:
  • The Pergamon Museum (until mid-2027); Das Panorama is open.
  • The Museum Berggruen(much of its collection is traveling the world)
  • The permanent collection of the German History Museum (Zeughaus); temporary exhibitions continue in the Pei Building.
• 2027: Reopening of the Pergamon Museum with the Pergamon Altar (4 June 2027), reopening of the Museum Berggruen
• 2030s: Berlin Modern to share the Museum of 20th-Century Art with the Neue Nationalgalerie on Kulturforum.

Museum Reviews and Museum-Specific Information:

Museum Island Museums:

• The Pergamon Museum with Ishtar Gate is closed until 4 June 2027. Some Greek sculptures are shown in the Pergamon Museum Panorama Exhibition with Asisi panoramic painting.
• Alte Nationalgalerie — 19th-century art.
• Altes Museum — Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art.
• Bode Museum — sculptures from the Middle Ages, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, Byzantine Art, and coins.
• Friedrichswerdersche Kirche — 19th-century German sculptures.
• Neues Museum — Pre and Early History, Egyptian Collection with bust of Nefertiti.

Kulturforum Museums:

• Gemäldegalerie — German and Dutch Old Masters and Italian paintings.
• Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts).
• Musical Instruments Museum near the Berliner Philharmonie.
• Neue Nationalgalerie — 20th-century art
• Berlin Modern — 20th-century art (opening around 2030)

Other Berlin State Museums:

• Ethnological and Asian Art Museums in the Humboldtforum
• Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum of Contemporary Art
• Photography — Helmut Newton collection and historic photos
• Museum Berggruen (closed until 2027)

More Top Museums in Berlin:

• Anne Frank Zentrum
• DDR Museum
• German Spy Museum
• Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History)
• Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin with Science Center Spectrum)
• Wall Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie

Archive of Previous Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin Museums

Post on previous special exhibitions in the Berlin State Museums — see what you’ve missed:

• 2025: Art Exhibitions & Contemporary Art Exhibitions in the Hamburg Bahnhof.
• 2024: Top Berlin Exhibitions, Caspar David Friedrich in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Frans Hals in the Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie (20th-century art), Hamburger Bahnhof Contemporary Art, Kupferstichkabinett (Prints and Drawings), and Photography Museum.
• 2023: Top Special Exhibitions, in the Kulturforum, in the Neue Nationalgalerie, on Museum Island, and the Museum of Photography.
• 2022: Top Special Exhibitions, in the Kulturforum (David Hockney), in the Neue Nationalgalerie, on Museumsinsel, Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art, and the Museum of Photography.
• 2021: Top Special Exhibitions— reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Ethnological and Asian Art Museums in the Humboldt Forum.
• 2020: Highlights, in Kulturforum, on Museum Island, in the Hamburger Bahnhof, smaller museums, and the opening of the Humboldt Forum.