The best special exhibitions in the museums of Museumsinsel in Berlin in 2026 cover Impressionist art, the Zodiac, and the Mongol leader Genghis Khan.
The top Berlin museums on Museumsinsel will offer several special exhibitions in 2026 in addition to the magnificent permanent collections. The Neues Museum will explain the role of the Zodiac from Babylonian times to the present day. The James-Simon-Gallery will be used for several temporary exhibitions ranging from the earliest art in Türkiye to the influence of Mongol leader Genghis Khan. The Bode Museum will explore the dialogue between sculpture, sound, and movement.
→ See also Top Special Art Exhibitions in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin for fine art exhibitions on Museumsinsel in 2026.
Destiny in the Stars – The Beginnings of the Zodiac
21 March 2026 – 10 January 2027 in the Neues Museum
‘What is your zodiac sign?’ Even today, in the age of science, this question is still often asked. The zodiac has fascinated people since ancient times. It unites humans and the cosmos, heaven and earth, astronomy and astrology, science and faith, tradition and innovation, certainty and uncertainty, harmony and dissonance.
But what exactly is the zodiac? An oracle that generates signs for the future? A mirror that provides insights into the psyche? A projection screen for our quest for knowledge and certainty? A coordinate system that makes the movement of the planets calculable? A visible expression of celestial harmony? Or all of these things at once? And where does it come from, how did it spread across the world, what was it used for, and how was it represented?
The exhibition presents the ancient zodiac from a contemporary scientific and social perspective in several thematic areas. Using ancient artefacts from Berlin museums, including some that have never been exhibited before, it takes visitors on a multicultural journey through space and time, from Babylonia to Egypt, Greece, and Rome (c. 400 BC – 400 AD), and explains the zodiac against the backdrop of its significance today.
A special exhibition of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, the Vorderasiatisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the research project “ZODIAC – Ancient Astral Science in Transformation” (European Research Council / Freie Universität Berlin)
Built community. Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler, and life 12,000 years ago
6 February – 19 July 2026 in the James-Simon-Galerie
This special exhibition focuses on art and sculptures from the first settled cultures in south-eastern Türkiye. There, people erected monumental stone structures and populated them with spectacular stone sculptures.
Curated in collaboration with Istanbul University, the exhibition presents the sculptures, many of which are being shown abroad for the first time, together with architectural reconstructions, media and photos by Spanish photo artist Isabel Muñoz.
A special exhibition of the Vorderasiatisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Genghis Khan – The World of the Mongols
Early October 2026 – Late April 2027 in the James-Simon-Galerie
2027 marks the 800th anniversary of the death of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. To mark this occasion, the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte is dedicating a major exhibition to this central figure.
How was the leader of a small nomadic people of outstanding horsemen and archers able to create an empire the likes of which the world had never seen before? The effects of Mongol expansion shaped Europe and Asia and determined the course of history for centuries to come.
The Genghis Khan National Museum is providing outstanding objects, including numerous new archaeological finds that have never before been seen in an exhibition outside Mongolia. Loans from Poland and Romania, as well as from the Staatsbibliothek Berlin and the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, complete the picture of this era.
Sound Bodies – Variations on a Theme of Art. A musical intervention at the Bode-Museum
24 November 2026 – 7 March 2027 in the Bode-Museum
The exhibition ‘Sound Bodies’ traces the sound of selected objects in the Bode-Museum – from Coptic textiles and medieval angel choirs to Antonio Canova’s ‘Dancer’. The intervention explores the dialogue between plastic art, sound, and movement.
Historical and modern musical instruments are placed in relation to works of art in which music is depicted. This creates fascinating juxtapositions, unexpected insights, and sensory experiences that make art visible and audible.
A special exhibition of the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Musikinstrumenten-Museum of the Staatliche Institut für Musikforschung – Preußischer Kulturbesitz.
→ See also Top Special Art Exhibitions in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin for fine art exhibitions on Museumsinsel in 2026.
More on the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin):
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, Tiqets, 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:
- Top National Museums and Galleries in Berlin (brief overview)
- Berlin State Museums: What Is Seen Where? (a short description of the collections in the different museums)
- Opening Hours of Berlin State Museums (2026) — most are again open on Tuesdays too.
- Ticket Prices for Berlin State Museums (prices for museums, temporary exhibitions, combination tickets, online time-slot reservations). Buying online from GetYourGuide is easy. Scan tickets with a QR or bar code directly at the entrance — no need to pass by the ticket desk (but pick up the free audio guide before entering).
- Save with the Berlin Museum Pass – 30 museums (including all the SMB museums) in three days for €32 – a fantastic savings deal.
- 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 is closed until 2027 (some sculptures are on display in Das Panorama), the Museum Berggruen is closed (much of its collection is traveling the world), the permanent collection of the German History Museum (Zeughaus) is closed but temporary exhibitions continue in the Pei Building.
- 2030s: Berlin Modern to share the Museum of 20th-Century Art with the Neue Nationalgalerie on Kulturforum.
More Museum Reviews and Museum-Specific Information:
- 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.
- Ethnological and Asian Art Museums in the Humboldtforum.
- Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (free admission) with a collection of 19th-century German sculptures.
- Gemäldegalerie — German and Dutch Old Masters and Italian paintings.
- Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts).
- Musical Instruments Museum near the Berliner Philharmonie.
- Neue Nationalgalerie — 20th-century art.
- Neues Museum — Pre and Early History, Egyptian Collection with bust of Nefertiti.
- Pergamon Museum with Ishtar Gate — the whole Pergamonmuseum is closed from 2023 until 2027. Some Greek sculptures are shown in the
- Pergamon Museum Panorama Exhibition with Asisi panoramic painting and Greek statues.
- Photography — Helmut Newton collection and historic photos.
Previous Temporary Exhibitions in Berlin Museums:
- 2025: Top Special Art Exhibitions in Berlin in 2025 & Top Contemporary Art Exhibitions in the Hamburg Bahnhof.
- 2024: Overview of Top Berlin Exhibitions in 2024, 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 Temporary Exhibitions in 2023 — overview, in the Kulturforum, in the Neue Nationalgalerie, on Museum Island, and the Museum of Photography.
- 2022: Top Special Temporary Exhibitions in 2022 — overview, in the Kulturforum (David Hockney), in the Neue Nationalgalerie, on Museumsinsel, Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art, and the Museum of Photography.
- 2021: Top Special Temporary Exhibitions in 2021 — including the reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie, as well as 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.