2022: Top Special Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin State Museums

Published on

by Henk Bekker

in Berlin, Germany

Top special exhibitions in the Berlin State Museums in 2022 are as diverse as David Hockney, Paul Gauguin, Schadow, Dürer, and Donatello.

James-Simon-Galerie and Schlossbrücke Berlin. Top special exhibitions in the Berlin State Museums in 2022 are as diverse as David Hockney, Paul Gauguin, Schadow, Dürer, and Donatello.

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin include some of the finest art museums and antiquity displays in the world but temporary exhibitions allow many further items to be shown each year. In 2022, the Berlin State Museums will again host a variety of special exhibitions not only of its own collections but also in cooperation with various other major galleries in the world. Time-slot reservation tickets are currently essential to visit top museums in Berlin — buy tickets online in advance from Tiqets, Get Your Guide, or SMB. Special exhibitions are usually included in the regular admission ticket but may require a separate (free) time-slot reservations.

Top Temporary Exhibitions on Museum Island in Berlin in 2022

Alte Nationalgalerie and Neues Museum in Berlin in Autumn

The museums of Berlin’s Museumsinsel have fantastic collections of art, antiquities, and artifacts with wonderful permanent displays often enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The major event in late summer 2022 is the full opening of the Ethnological and Asian Art museums but several special exhibitions will be staged in other Museums Island museums in 2022:

  • Paul Gauguin – Why Are You Angry? — 25 March – 10 July 2022 in the Alte Nationalgalerie 
  • David Hockney. Four Seasons — 9 April – 24 July 2022 in the Bode Museum — moved to Gemäldegalerie in Kulturforum
  • Johann Gottfried Schadow. Moving Forms — 21 October 2022 – 19 February 2023 in the Alte Nationalgalerie
  • Schliemann’s Worlds — 13 May – 6 November 2022 in the James-Simon-Galerie + Neues Museum
  • Adventures on the Nile. Prussia and Egyptology 1842–45 — 2 September 2022 – 7 March 2023 in the Neues Museum

→ See Top Temporary Exhibitions on Museum Island in Berlin in 2022 for more details.

GetYourGuide

Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Kulturforum Berlin in 2022

Donatello, Thronende Maria mit dem Kind
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The various museums and institutions of the Kulturforum in Berlin will host the following special exhibitions in 2022:

  • Anna Dorothea Therbusch — A Berlin Woman Artist of the Age of Enlightenment — 3 December 2021 — 10 April 2022 in the Gemäldegalerie
  • David Hockney. Four Seasons — 9 April – 24 July 2022 in the Gemäldegalerie (originally announced for the Bode Museum)
  • Donatello. Founder of the Renaissance — 2 September 2022 – 8 January 2023 in the Gemäldegalerie
  • Dürer for the Nation — 23 September 2022 – 8 January 2023 in the Kulturforum, Exhibition hall
  • Hell’s Black and Starlight — Dante’s Divine Comedy in Modern and Contemporary Art — 12 February – 8 May 2022 in the Kupferstichkabinett
  • Jeanne Lanvin — December 2022 – March 2023 in the Kunstgewerbemuseum
  • Fragment. The Allure of the Incomplete — 29 September 2022 – 8 January 2023 in the Kunstbibliothek
  • Studio Tolerance — 17 May – 17 July 2022 in the Kunstbibliothek

→ See Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Kulturforum Berlin in 2022 for more details.

Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin in 2022

Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin Exterior

The Mies van der Rohe designed Neue Nationalgalerie reopened in summer 2022 and while the current exhibition The Art of Society, 1900 to 1945 will run until mid-2023, the smaller rooms and upper glass hall will already receive new temporary exhibitions during 2022:

  • Gerhard Richter. Artist’s Books and Editions — 10 February – 29 May 2022
  • Barbara Kruger — 22 April – 28 August 2022
  • Monica Bonvicini. Elegance and Crime — 28 October 2022 – 2 April 2023 

→ See Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin in 2022 for more details.

Special Exhibitions in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin in 2022

Joseph Beuys, DAS KAPITAL RAUM 1970–1977, 1980
© SMB, Nationalgalerie / Thomas Bruns, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021

The Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Berlin is home to the Nationalgalerie’s post-1960s art. The large permanent exhibition will be enhanced in 2022 by:

  • Balancing Act. Works From the Marx Collection and the Nationalgalerie  — Spring 2022 – Spring 2023
  • Under Construction. New Acquisitions for the Nationalgalerie’s Collection — 2 June – 9 October 2022 
  • Preis der Nationalgalerie 2021. Sandra Mujinga — October 2022 – Spring 2023 
  • Broken Music Reloaded — November 2022 – Summer 2023

→ See Special Contemporary Art Exhibitions in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin in 2022 for more details.

Special Exhibitions in the Museum of Photography in Berlin in 2022

Candida Höfer, Bolshoi Teatr Moskwa II
Bolshoi Teatr Moskwa II, 2017, © Candida Höfer, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021

As usual, Helmut Newton is the star attraction in the Museum für Fotografie but special exhibitions also celebrate the interiors photography of Candida Höfer and special photos for children:

  • Helmut Newton: Legacy — 31 October 2021 – 22 May 2022
  • Helmut Newton: Hollywood  — 3 June – 19 November 2022 
  • Candida Höfer — 24 March – 28 August 2022
  • Bird’s-Eye View – Worm’s-Eye View. Photography for Children — 8 October 2022 – 19 February 2023

→ See Top Special Exhibitions in the Museum of Photography in Berlin in 2022 for more details.

More on the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin):

Note new opening times for many Berlin museums since mid-April 2024 — several are now closed on both Monday and Tuesday.

Timeslot reservations are sensible (and sometimes needed in busy periods) for the Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, and Pergamon – Das Panorama. (The Pergamon Museum itself is closed until 2027!). Timeslots are released only a few weeks in advance. Online tickets are available from GetYourGuide or SMB.

Many passes and multi-museum tickets offer savings (Kulturforum / Museums Island). Individual museum ticket prices range from €8 to €14 (€20 for special exhibitions). Online tickets are skip-the-line — go directly to the gallery entrance to scan the code.

For more general information on the Berlin State Museums:

News & Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin in 2024 & 2025:

More Museum Reviews and Museum-Specific Information:

Previous Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin Museums:

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