European Traveler

Tickets for the Berlin State Museums and Galleries

by in Berlin, Germany

Tickets for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin are reasonably cheap with good combination deals. Buy museum tickets and reserve online to save even more.

Altes Museum on Museuminsel in Berlin
Altes Museum on Museumsinsel in Berlin © visitBerlin | Scholvien

Tickets for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (State Museums) are very reasonably priced for the quality and quantity of artworks and cultural objects on display. The most expensive museum is €19 but most are cheaper and many combination deals are available. Tickets are sold for individual museums (or special temporary exhibitions) but the area combination tickets are especially good value for money and always a great savings deal when seeing more than one museum on a single day. These national museums are included on the Berlin Museums Pass and some Berlin Welcome Cards. Buy tickets online from Tiqets or GetYourGuide to save even more and make free time-slot reservations where required.

Ticket Options for the Berlin State Museums

Tickets for the Berlin State Museums are at first glance fairly complicated. Several combination tickets are sold and the museums are also included in tourist museum passes.

Tickets are generally available for special temporary exhibitions, for an individual museum, for the whole area the museum is in, and for all museums.

The area tickets are generally good value and are only marginally more expensive than a single museum ticket. The museum ticket almost always includes admission to temporary exhibitions, although sometimes it is extra, or a separate cheaper ticket is available for the temporary exhibition only.

Admission to the Berlin State Museums is free for children up to 18 years old but they need a ticket too so include children when buying tickets or making time-slot reservations. Students usually pay the reduced (ermäßigt) half-price rate.

All visitors can buy tickets online  from the museums but this option is currently in German only and require registration or a surprisingly amount of personal data. Buying from Tiqets or GetYourGuide is a lot simpler, the same price and valid as mobile phone ticket. The online reservation system for free time-slot tickets where required can also be used for child tickets and annual pass holders.

Note that day tickets are valid for the calendar day, irrespective of the time of purchase. It is therefore best to buy museum tickets early morning and avoid Mondays when only the Pergamonmuseum and Neues Museum are open (although both can easily fill a day).

Area Tickets for the Berlin State Museums and Galleries

Museumsinsel Berlin / Museum Island

The area day ticket for all museums on Museum Island is €18 (buy online) – note that both the Pergamonmuseum and Neues Museum require time-slot admissions – free booking online at SMB Shop. The Friedrichwerdersche Kirche Church is closed indefinitely due to structural issues.

Prices for the museums in the Humboldt Forum (Berlin Schloss) have not been announced yet. The Etnologisches Museum / Ethnological Museum and Museum für Asiatische Kunst / Museum for Asiatic Art should open towards the end of 2019.

Kulturforum / Cultural Forum

The area day ticket for all museums in the Kulturforum is €16. Admission is sometimes charged for temporary exhibitions in the library and Kupferstichkabinett.

  • €10 – Gemäldegalerie / Paintings Gallery (Old Masters) (buy from Tiqets) – €4 surcharge for the Mantegna-Bellini exhibition in early 2019.
  • €8 – Kunstgewerbemuseum / Museum of Decorative Arts (buy from Tiqets)
  • Kupferstichkabinett / Museum of Prints and Drawings – no separate ticket, sometimes surcharge for temporary exhibtions
  • Kunstbibliothek / Art Library – €8 for special exhibitions, otherwise free
  • Neue Nationalgalerie / New National Gallery (close for several years for renovation)
  • €6 – Musikinstrumenten-Museum / Musical Instruments (not part of the SMK but included in the Kulturforum ticket).

Museen Dahlem / Dahlem Museums

Only the Museum for European Cultures remained at Dahlem. The other two collections moved to the Humboldt Forum in the rebuilt Berlin Schloss on Museum Island – due to open in 2019.

  • €8 – Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Museum of European Cultures

Charlottenburg Museums

Combination tickets for the Berggruem and Scharf-Gerstenberg collection is €12. Admission to Charlottenburg Palace itself and the Photography Museum is not included in this ticket.

  • €10 – Museum Berggruen (buy from Tiqets)
  • €10 – Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg / Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg
  • €10 – Museum für Fotografie / Photography Museum (buy from Tiqets)

Other Berlin State Museums

  • Around €14 (depending on the temporary exhibitions) – Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin / Museum of Contemporary Art in the Hamburg Station in Berlin (buy from Tiqets)
  • €6 – Schloss Köpenick Palace

The Museum Pass and Welcome Card Berlin

The Museum Pass Berlin is sold by Visit Berlin – the tourist information office for €29 and is valid for entry into more than 30 museum in Berlin on three consecutive days. These museums include all Berlin State Museums, the German History Museum, and Technology Museum but unfortunately not the popular Haus am Checkpoint Charlie or DDR museums. The pass is available from any participating museum, tourist office, and some hotels.

The Berlin Welcome Card Museum Island pass is a further option sold by the tourist office. This 72-h pass includes public transportation, free admission to the permanent collections of the Museum Island museums, and further discounts at other attractions. It currently cost €46 in the AB transportation region version – the ABC version that includes Potsdam, Schönefeld Airport and Oranienburg is hardly more expensive.

Annual Passes for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Annual members passes (Jahreskarten) are good options for residents of Berlin or frequent visitors. It comes in three versions:

  • €100 – Classic Plus: valid for all museum and temporary exhibitions at all times, priority admission even without time-slot reservations.
  • €50 – Classic: valid for all permanent exhibitions at all times. Major temporary exhibitions may have a surcharge. Free time-slot reservations.
  • €25 – Basic: valid for all permanent exhibitions at off-peak times, i.e. enter after 4 pm (3 pm at Dahlem and Schloss Köpenick) on weekdays and between 11 am and 1 pm on weekends and vacation days. Major temporary exhibitions have a surcharge. Free time-slot reservations.

These annual passes can only be bought at the following museums: Altes Museum, Kulturforum central ticket desk, Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Fotografie, Museum Berggruen, Dahlem Museums, Neues Museum and Schloss Köpenick.

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: