The Pergamon Museum in Berlin is closed from 23 October 2023 until a partly reopening in mid-2027 — some top items will be displayed in other museums and venues.
Berlin’s Pergamonmuseum on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) closed completely to visitors on 23 October 2023. Some items are on display elsewhere but the first section of the Pergamon Museum — the Hellenistic Hall including the Pergamon Altar — is expected to reopen in spring 2027. The full Pergamon Museum will only be open by the late 2030s but more exhibition areas are likely to reopen in phases earlier. Some of the Greek sculptures are displayed in the Pergamon Das Panorama exhibition.
Pergamon Altar and Hellenistic Hall in Berlin Closed until 2027
Construction work at the Pergamon Museum has been ongoing for several years and the building’s North Wing and the middle section should reopen in spring 2027.
The top attractions in this part of the new museum include:
- The Hellenistic Hall and the Pergamon Altar after which the museum is named. Some of the Greek sculptures are currently temporarily displayed in the Pergamon. Das Panorama.
- The middle section will continue to show large objects from the Antikensammlung (antiquities collection), such as the Ishtar Gate.
- The Museum für Islamische Kunst (Islamic Art), with its new larger permanent exhibition, will be on view in the North Wing.
Pergamonmuseum Berlin Closed until mid-1930s
The second construction phase ‒ the restoration of the South Wing and the construction of a fourth wing — is due to start in 2024 and will in total take well over a decade. By the late 2030s, the Pergamon Museum should be connected to the Bode Museum and the Neues Museum.
The building sections concerned housed the Museum für Islamische Kunst Kunst (Museum for Islamic Art), the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East), and the Miletus Hall, which belongs to the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities).
See Pergamon Objects while the Museum in Berlin is Closed
Some of the collections of the Pergamonmuseum will remain viewable while the museum building is closed:
Top sculptures and objects from the Antikensammlung will continue to be exhibited at Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama, located directly across from the Museumsinsel. The Vorderasiatisches Museum is preparing a new exhibition for this location, as the Greek sculptures are due to move back to the Pergamon Museum in 2025/2026.
Some of the outstanding individual objects from the Pergamonmuseum will be on loan to other museums in Berlin and around the world. For instance, an intervention at Hamburger Bahnhof and a thematic collaboration with the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) are planned, and cooperation with the Louvre is in preparation.
As of winter 2023‒24, the current (future historical) permanent exhibition of the Vorderasiatisches Museum will also be available online as a virtual tour. While the building is closed, the Vorderasiatisches Museum also intends to move its objects from the main level to storage depots and intermediate sites for restoration. Large special exhibitions with international cooperation partners are now in preparation, including Das Zweistromland – die Wiege der Könige (Mesopotamia ‒ The Cradle of Kings).
Objects from the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Islamic Art) will not be on temporary display, as the museum will move to the new larger display halls of the Northwing due to open in 2027. The exhibits, some of which are permanently installed, will not only need to be dismantled and reinstalled at a new location during this period but also restored ‒ for instance, the Mshatta Façade, the Aleppo Room, and the Alhambra Cupola.
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:
- 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 (2024) — major changes since mid-April 2024!
- Ticket Prices for Berlin State Museums (prices for museums, temporary exhibitions, combination tickets, online time-slot reservations). Buying online from GetYourGuide is easy. A ticket with a QR or bar code is scanned 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 2024:
- 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.
- Museums closed in 2024: The Pergamon Museum is closed until 2027 (some sculptures are on display in Das Panorama), the Museum Berggruen is closed until 2025 (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.
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:
- 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.
