Tickets for the Berlin State Museums and Galleries

Tickets for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin are reasonably cheap with good combination deals — buy museum tickets and reserve free time-slot admission online for skip-the-line priority admissions.

Tickets for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin are reasonably cheap with good combination deals -- buy museum tickets and reserve free time-slot admission online for skip-the-line priority admissions.

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 €14 but most are cheaper and many combination deals are available — €19 includes all Museum Island venues for the day. 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 GetYourGuide and make free time-slot reservations where required.

Update 2024: Most Berlin state museums are open and currently, time-slot reservations are essential only for the Neues Museum and for major exhibitions. However, it is sensible to book timeslots for the Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, and Das Panorama. (The Pergamon Museum itself is closed until 2027!) Timeslots are currently released only around four weeks in advance but earlier for blockbuster shows. 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.

Ticket Options for the Berlin State Museums

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 Museumsinsel in Berlin © visitBerlin | Scholvien

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

Tickets are generally available for special temporary exhibitions, for an individual museum, for several museums in a specific geographic area, and for all state museums. Some tickets have skip-the-line time-slot reservations while others are valid at any time during the calendar day.

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 state museums, as well as most other museums in Berlin, are free on the first Sunday of the month. Timeslot reservations or day tickets may still be needed for the top museums and exhibitions — see the Museums Sonntag site.

Time-Slot Reservations and Single Admission Tickets for Berlin Museums

Two types of standard single-museum, single-admission tickets are available for the national state museums in Berlin:

  • Time-slot reservation tickets (Zeitfenstertickets) for the most popular museums are sold online (or available at museums) and have a specific 15 or 30-minute time window during which visitors must enter the museums. (The time-slot reservation is free and time slots are released only around a month in advance but sometimes much earlier for blockbuster exhibitions.)
  • Day tickets (Tageskarten) for the smaller venues — if sold online, the ticket often has the time as 10:00 but it is valid for admission any time during the calendar day.

Time-slot reservations are currently only essential for the Neues Museum (and often for popular special exhibitions). Time-slot reservations are made free online (or in person at museums) and are possible for any ticket type (or even possible to make before actually buying a ticket).

Buying a museum ticket and making a time reservation are two separate transactions — missing a time slot does not cancel the admission ticket. It is therefore quite sensible to make time-slot reservations online in advance for the museums offering this option: Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie (often busy), Neues Museum (essential), Pergamon Das Panorama, and any special exhibition offering a time-slot reservation option.

All visitors may buy tickets online from the museums but this option requires registration or a surprising amount of personal data. Buying from GetYourGuide is a lot simpler, the same price, valid as a mobile phone ticket, and has better cancelation conditions. Go directly to the gallery entrance to scan the QR or bar codes. The online reservation system for free time-slot tickets where required may also be used for child tickets and annual pass holders.

Area Tickets for the Berlin State Museums and Galleries

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 relatively small surcharge is payable to visit the specific exhibition.

The two main area tickets are for the museums in the Kulturforum and on Museums Island and are valid for a calendar day and often give admission without time-slot reservations to all but the most popular exhibitions. The Berlin Welcome Card Museum Island covers all state museums on the island while almost all museums in Berlin are included in the Berlin Welcome Card All-Inclusive and the fantastic value 3-day Museumspass Berlin.

Museumsinsel Berlin / Museum Island

James Simon Galerie Berlin

The area day ticket for all museums on Museum Island — Museumsinsel-Ticket — is only €24 and thus cheaper than any two museums on the same day. In contrast to other combination tickets, time-slot reservations are usually not necessary, except for major exhibitions. As time-slot reservations are free, it is always a good option to ensure easy skip-the-line admission, especially for the Neues Museum.

Ticket prices for the individual museums are as follows — special exhibitions may add a small surcharge:

James-Simon-Galerie — depends on the special exhibition, often included in the ticket of the organizing museum.

Admission to the Friedrichwerdersche Kirche with its display of 19th-century sculptures is free and no tickets are required.

Humboldt Forum (Berliner Schloss)

Prices for the museums and exhibitions in the Humboldt Forum (Berlin Schloss) are set individually and are not included in the Museuminsel Area Ticket but usually are covered by the Berlin Museum Pass and the Berlin Welcome Card All-Inclusive.

Entry into the courtyards of the building is free as is admission to some of the exhibitions. Admission to the Etnologisches Museum / Ethnological Museum and Museum fĂĽr Asiatische Kunst / Museum for Asian Art is currently still free and without time-slot reservations.

Kulturforum / Cultural Forum

The Gemäldegalerie is at the heart of the Kulturforum in central Berlin. 

The area day ticket for all museums here is the Kulturforum-Ticket at €20 — with this ticket, no timeslot reservations are required (but always double-check for major temporary reservations). Reservations for the Neue Nationalgalerie and Gemäldegalerie (if available) are sensible, especially on weekends.

Ticket prices for the individual museums are as follows — special exhibitions may add a small surcharge:

  • €12 – Gemäldegalerie / Paintings Gallery (Old Masters) (buy from Tiqets). Sometimes surcharges apply for top temporary exhibitions.
  • €8 – Kunstgewerbemuseum / Museum of Decorative Arts (buy from Tiqets).
  • €6 (depending on the exhibition) – Kupferstichkabinett / Museum of Prints and Drawings.
  • €6 (depending on the exhibition) – Kunstbibliothek / Art Library (buy from Tiqets).
  • €12 — Neue Nationalgalerie / New National Gallery — tickets available from Get Your Guide, surcharges are sometimes added for special exhibitions.
  • €6 – Musikinstrumenten-Museum / Musical Instruments (not part of the SMK but included in the Kulturforum ticket).

Other Berlin State Museums

The top venue for contemporary art in Berlin is the Hamburger Bahnhof National Galerie der Gegenwart near the Hauptbahnhof.

Tickets for the other Berlin State Museums are sold mostly individually but the Berlin Museum Pass and Welcome Card All-Inclusive are valid at all of these museums:

  • Around €12 (depending on the temporary exhibitions) – to the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum fĂĽr Gegenwart – Berlin / Museum of Contemporary Art in the Hamburg Station in Berlin (buy from Get Your Guide). Some temporary exhibitions may be seen individually for less.
  • €8 – Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Museum of European Cultures in Dahlem (buy from Tiqets).
  • €10 – Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenburg near Schloss Charlottenburg (buy from Tiqets). (The Museum Berggruen is closed until 2025.)
  • €10 – admission to the Museum fĂĽr Fotografie / Photography Museum behind the Zoologischer Garten station (buy from Tiqets).
  • €6 – Schloss Köpenick Palace.

The Museum Pass and Welcome Card Berlin

The Museum Pass Berlin is sold by Visit Berlin â€“ the tourist information office for €32 and is valid for entry into more than 30 museums in Berlin on three consecutive days. These museums include all Berlin State Museums, the German History Museum (closed until at least 2025), and the 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.

The Berlin Welcome Card All-Inclusive is far more expensive but covers many pricy venues in addition to most museums in Berlin.

GetYourGuide

Annual Passes for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Annual member 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, except for very popular exhibitions.
  • €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 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 may only be bought at the following museums: Alte Nationalgalerie, Kulturforum central ticket desk, Hamburger Bahnhof, James-Simon-Galerie, Museum fĂĽr Fotografie, Neue Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, and Pergamon Das Panorama.

More on the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin):

Note: Most Berlin museums and similar sights are open in 2024. Timeslot reservations are essential for only the Neues Museum but sensible (and possibly essential in busy periods!) for the Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie, and Pergamon – Das Panorama. (The Pergamon Museum itself is closed until 2027!). Timeslots are released only around four weeks in advance. Tickets are available from GetYourGuide, which seems to have timeslots available when SMB has already sold out. Many passes and multi-museum tickets are again available (Kulturforum / Museums Island). Individual museum ticket prices range from €6 to €14 (€20 for special exhibitions). Online tickets are skip-the-line — go directly to the gallery entrance to scan the code but pick up free audioguides first.

For more general information on the Berlin State Museums:

News & Temporary Exhibitions:

More Museum Reviews and Museum-Specific Information:

Previous Temporary Exhibitions:

Henk Bekker in armor

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance travel writer with over 20 years of experience writing online. He is particularly interested in history, art, and culture. He has lived most of his adult life in Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark. In addition to European-Traveler.com, he also owns a travel website on the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland and maintains statistical websites on car sales and classic car auction prices. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Development Finance from the University of London.