In 2026, Impressionist paintings will be the top special exhibitions in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, which will also display a scandalous painting from the foundation period for the first time ever in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
The Alte Nationalgalerie on Museum Island is Berlin’s leading venue for 19th-century art, with important collections of neoclassical, Romantic, and Impressionist paintings and sculptures. The name Old National Gallery refers to the age of the building, which opened in 1876 as the third museum on Museumsinsel and originally served as a venue for contemporary art. In 2026, the Alte Nationalgalerie marks its 150th anniversary with a varied program of special exhibitions, from major Impressionist highlights to smaller, specialist cabinet shows. Tickets usually include admission to all temporary displays, but time-slot reservations may be needed for The Scharf Collection and the Impressionist exhibitions.
Cabinet Exhibitions in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin in 2026
Cabinet exhibitions (Kabinettausstellungen) in the Alte Nationalgalerie are smaller, temporary presentations built around a small number of works, or even a single painting. In 2026, special cabinet exhibitions will rely on scandal and international cooperation:
Scandal! Mors Imperator – Hermione von Preuschen
22 March – 15 November 2026 in the Alte Nationalgalerie
Exactly 150 years after the opening of the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin presents a small cabinet exhibition inspired by a scandalous painting from the foundation period.
‘Mors Imperator’ (translated: ‘Death is the ruler’), painted by the artist Hermione von Preusschen (1854–1918), caused a sensation when unveiled in Berlin in 1887. The oversize oil on canvas painting, measuring 258 x 138 cm (ca. 102 x 54 in), shows a skeleton in imperial robes.
The work was considered an insult to the German emperor. Kaiser Wilhelm I was already 90 years old when it was created and died the following year. Although the emperor announced that he had no objection to the painting, it was rejected by the jury of the Königliche Akademie der Künste.
Hermione von Preusschen then exhibited the monumental painting on her own initiative in Berlin. The show was a huge success with the public. The Alte Nationalgalerie is now showing this painting, long believed to be lost, to the public for the first time and introducing this influential artist of the time to today’s audience in a cabinet exhibition.
InterNationalgalerie#1 – National Museum Warsaw
19 June 2026 – 13 January 2027: a new cabinet series at the Alte Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
In 1876, the Prussian king ceremoniously opened the Nationalgalerie on Museumsinsel Berlin. Contrary to the inscription on the pediment, Der deutschen Kunst (‘To German Art’), the collection was international from the outset and grew to become one of the most important German collections of French avant-garde art.
In its new series ‘InterNationalgalerie’, the Alte Nationalgalerie will continuously invite national galleries and museums from all over the world over the next few years to introduce themselves to international and Berlin audiences, along with particularly current themes and questions.
The National Museum in Warsaw will kick off the series with a special exhibition from 19 June 2026 to 13 January 2027 in the Alte Nationalgalerie.
Special Impressionist Exhibitions in the Berlin Alte Nationalgalerie in 2026
Two special exhibitions with many Impressionist paintings are the highlights of the art year in the Alte Nationalgalerie in both 2025 and 2026.
The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Degas – Bonnard – Grosse
24 October 2025 – 15 February 2026 — the exhibition is hugely popular, making time-slot reservation tickets essential.
The Scharf Collection, a private German collection of 19th- and 20th-century French art and contemporary international art, is presented in its entirety for the very first time. Now managed by the fourth generation of the family, it spans the entire spectrum from the early days of modernism, impressionism, French avant-garde, 20th century, and contemporary international art.
→→ See Goya – Monet – Degas – Bonnard – Grosse: The Scharf Collection for more details.
Cassirer and the Breakthrough of Impressionism
22 May – 27 September 2026 in the Alte Nationalgalerie — time-slot reservation tickets might be required.
The top special exhibition of the Alte Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in 2026 is inspired by Paul Cassirer, the art dealer who made French Impressionism popular in Germany. He also promoted other contemporary European artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 2026, the Alte Nationalgalerie will honour Paul Cassirer (1871–1926), one of the most important art dealers of his time, showcasing his impressive commitment to art with over 100 outstanding works of Impressionism and classical modernism. Cassirer, who was based in Berlin, made a decisive contribution to the spread of French Impressionism in Germany. Artists such as Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir first gained wider attention in German-speaking countries through him. Numerous key works found their way into important German collections and museums through his mediation, including the holdings of the National Gallery.
Cassirer did not limit his commitment to promoting French art alone. He was also committed to German Impressionism and supported the Berlin Secession with artists such as Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt. At the same time, he promoted Ferdinand Hodler and Edvard Munch, important pioneers of classical modernism, while Ernst Barlach, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Paula Modersohn-Becker, representatives of the young avant-garde, also found their way into his gallery’s programme.
→ See also Claude Monet Paintings in Museums in Paris for the world’s best collections of top artworks by Monet and other Impressionist artists.
Über Zeiten / About Times
From 14 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, About times. Encounters of the 19th century with works of the 20th and 21st centuries from the collection of the Nationalgalerie in the Alte Nationalgalerie will be a visual reminder of this museum’s original function.
In 1876, the Nationalgalerie was opened as a venue for contemporary art — less than two years after the First Impressionist Exhibition in Paris. Today, under the name Alte Nationalgalerie, it is the main building of the Nationalgalerie and the museum for art from the long 19th century.
All six buildings of the Nationalgalerie are united by a common collection, from the Alte Nationalgalerie to the Neue Nationalgalerie to the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In its anniversary year, the Alte Nationalgalerie offers selective encounters between works from the 20th and 21st centuries and 19th-century art on all three floors, inviting visitors to engage in associative viewing.
How to Visit the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin
The Alte Nationalgalerie on Berlin’s Museum Island is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.
Time-slot reservation tickets are sometimes required, but only for major exhibitions and at peak periods.
Entry to the museum, which resembles a classical Greek temple, is from below the external staircase.
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.