European Traveler

Opening Hours of the Berlin State Museums

by in Berlin, Germany

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin are mostly open Tuesday to Sunday, a few open on Monday and Thursday evenings and most museums open on public holidays.

Berlin Cultural Forum at Night
Berlin Kulturforum at Night © visitBerlin | Koch

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (national museums and galleries) are generally open Tuesday to Sunday from around 10 am to 6 pm. Some of the major museums and galleries are open until 8 pm on Thursday evenings. Only the Pergamon Museum (including Panorama Exhibition) and Neues Museum require time-slot ticket reservations (free and the only sensible way to see these top museums) and are open on regular Mondays as well.

The Berlin State Museums are open on most public holidays (including on holiday Mondays) – using Sunday opening hours. The museums are usually closed on December 24 and 31 (what isn’t in Germany?) but open on Christmas Day itself and opening around noon on January 1.

Berlin Museums Closed in 2019

The following Berlin State Museums are closed in 2018 (and, unfortunately, mostly beyond):

  • Neue National Gallerie / New National Gallery (closed for several years for renovation)
  • Friedrichwerdersche Kirche – closed indefinitely due to structural issues.
  • The Pergamon Museum is being renovated and some halls may closed while most of the museum remains open. The hall with the Pergamon Altar will only be fully accessible around 2025/26 but glimpses of the temple may be possible before then and some statues may be seen in the special Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama exhibition.

Berlin Museums Opening in 2019

The following museums will open / re-open during 2019:

  • The Humboldt Forum in the rebuilt Berlin Schloss on Museum Island should open towards the end of 2019. The two major museums opening here are the Etnologisches Museum / Ethnological Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst / Museum for Asiatic Art.
  • The James Simon Galerie should open in summer 2019 – it will become the central entrance to the Pergamon and Neues Museum and has special temporary exhibition spaces too.

Opening Hours on Museum Island Berlin

All museums on Museumsinsel Berlin (Alte Nationalgalerie, Altes Museum, Bode Museum, Neues Museum and Pergamon Museum) are open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, closing at 8 pm on Thursday.

The Pergamonmuseum, the Panorama Exhibition and Neues Museum are also open on Monday from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission to these two museum are by time-slot tickets – worth reserving in advance also for free admission and passes (up to around two months in advance possible).

Tickets may be bought online from SMB but buying from Tiqets or GetYourGuide is a lot simpler and cost the same as the official museum website.

Opening Hours of Kulturforum / Cultural Forum Museums in Berlin

The museums in the Kulturforum area are open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am on weekdays (11 am on weekends) and closing at 6 pm. (The Musical Instruments Museum opens and closes and hour earlier – it is not really an SMB but included in the Kulturforum ticket.)

The Gemäldegalerie, Musical Instruments Museum and Kunstbibliothek are open on Thursday nights until 8 pm. Temporary exhibitions in the other museums often have late hours on Thursdays as well.

(The Neue Nationalgalerie will be closed for several years from 2015.)

Opening Hours of Museums in Dahlem

The Museum of European Cultures (Europäischer Kulturen) in Berlin-Dahlem is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and weekends from 11 am to 6 pm.

The Ethnological and Asian Art museums have closed here and will reopen in the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Schloss on Museum Island towards the end of 2019.

Opening Hours of Museums in Charlottenburg

The Berggruen Museum and Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg are open Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and on weekends from 11 am to 6 pm.

The Museum für Fotographie near Zoologischer Bahnhof station is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm, closing 8 pm on Thursday.

Opening Hours of the Hamburger Bahnhof

The Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin Museum of Contemporary Art is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and weekends from 11 am to 6 pm.

The Hamburger Bahnhof is open on Thursday evening until 8 pm.

Opening Hours for Schloss Köpenick

Schloss Köpenick is open Thursday to Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm.

More on the Berlin State Museum (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)

For more general information on the Berlin State Museums:

News & Temporary Exhibitions:

  • For special contemporary art exhibitions in 2019 in Berlin see the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart and
  • Top Temporary Art Exhibition in Berlin for other major special exhibitions in 2019.
  • The Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Schloss should open towards the end of the year.
  • The James Simon Gallery should open in summer 2019
  • The Neue Nationalgalerie with twentieth-century art (up to 1970) remains closed for renovations.

More Museums Reviews and Museum Specific Information: