The Museum für Fotografie (Photography) in Berlin is home to the Helmut Newton collection and temporary exhibitions of historic photos.
The Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography) in Berlin is used for exhibitions by the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Kunstbibliothek’s Collection of Photography. The permanent exhibition is of items owned by famous fashion photographer Helmut Newton and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions of his photos. The Kunstbibliothek arranges rotating exhibitions on a variety of themes using the Art Library’s vast collection of historic and artistic photographs. Buy tickets online.
Shorter Berlin Museum Opening Hours in 2025
Since mid-April 2024, several top museums in Berlin are closed on both Monday and Tuesday with shorter opening hours on many days. See the latest Berlin museum opening hours for details.
Currently, time-slot reservations are obligatory only for the Neues Museum, but sensible if available for the Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, and Das Panorama. (The Pergamon Museum itself is closed until 2027!) Timeslots are released only a few weeks in advance. Buy tickets and make reservations online at GetYourGuide or at SMB.
Online tickets for museums without timeslot reservations are skip-the-line — go directly to the entrance to scan the ticket. Many multiple-museum tickets and passes are again accepted, including Kulturforum, Museumsinsel, and the excellent value 3-day Berlin Museum Pass.
Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography)
The Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography) is located inside a former officers’ mess (Landwehr-Kasino) next to the busy Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof train station. This neoclassical building was opened in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1909 and was recently restored including the large and impressive Kaisersaal on the top floor.
The Museum of Photography is currently used by two institutions for mostly temporary exhibitions: the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Photography Collection of the Kunstbibliothek (Art Library).
Helmut Newton Photos in Berlin
The lower two floors of the Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography) in Berlin is used by the Helmut Newton Foundation for exhibitions of photos by Helmut Newton (1920-2004) and his wife June Newton / Alice Springs (1923-2021). Helmut Newton was one of the most famous and prolific fashion photographers of the 20th century.
The museum usually has two Helmut Newton exhibitions:
- Helmut Newton’s Private Photography — a permanent exhibition of Newton’s cameras, photos, library, part of his office from Monaco, publications, and posters of exhibitions.
- Temporary Exhibitions — Special exhibitions of Newton photos but also by his contemporaries including his wife June, who used Alice Springs as pseudonym.
Kunstbibliothek Exhibitions in the Museum of Photography
The collection of photographs of the Art Library (Kunstbibliothek) is divided into five areas: the photographic archive, the collection of artistic photography, the personal bequests and archive, the photogrammetric holdings, and historical postcards from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Photos may be seen by appointment but for general visits, the Kunstbibliothek uses the large and impressive Kaisersaal on the top floor of the Museum of Photography for temporary exhibitions.
Museum of Photography Berlin Visitor’s Information
The Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography) is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 19:00.
Admission tickets are €8. Buy tickets online for skip-the-line entry.
In contrast to other exhibitions by the Berlin State Museums, taking photos in the Museum of Photography is usually discouraged. This is partly due to the copyright protection of the Helmut Newton photos.
The Museum für Fotografie (Museum of Photography) is at Jebensstraße 2 right next to the busy Berlin Zoologischer Garten train station — opposite side of the tracks from the busy bus stops on Hardenbergerplatz.
More on the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin):
Note new opening times for many Berlin museums in 2025 — 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 (2025) — 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 2025:
- 2025: Top Special Art Exhibitions in Berlin in 2025 & Top Contemporary Art Exhibitions in the Hamburg Bahnhof.
- Museums closed in 2025: The Pergamon Museum is closed until 2027 (some sculptures are on display in Das Panorama), the Museum Berggruen is closed until 2026 (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:
- 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.
