Museum Island

The Museum Island of Berlin, is the place where you will find the most important museums of the city.

Member of the UNESCO World Heritage, this island of museums was designed to be "a sanctuary of art and science." The five museums that are included in the Museum Island are located between Kupfergraben and river Spree.

This extraordinary group of museums was started by King Friedrich Wilhelm III who made possible the construction of the Royal Museum in 1830 - today Altes Museum (the Old Museum). The museum was built to allow to the general public to see the treasures of the royal art of Germany. Nevertheless, the island was not conceived until around 1840, when Fredrich August Stuler made the proposal to create a cultural center on the island, a praised and applauded idea. In 1859, the New Museum was completed and later, in 1876, will be completed also the Old National Gallery.

Kaiser Friedrich Museum (today the Bode Museum) was added in 1904. The last museum, Pergamon Museum was also completed in 1930. Unfortunately, almost 70% of the buildings were destroyed during the Second World War and after the war the collections were divided between the East Berlin and the West.

At the end of the 20th century a reconstruction and a re-modernization program was initiated and was meant to restore the five museums. The Old National Gallery (Alte Nationalgalerie) was reopened in 2001. Here is one of the largest collections of sculptures and paintings from the 19th century. You will will find here numerous works of German artists of the century and several works from the French impressionists.

Restored and reopened in 1966, the Old Museum (Altes Museum) hosts the Greek and Roman exhibits, although it has been originally designed to expose the artistic treasures of the Royal Family. Built by the city's greatest architect, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the building resembles with a Greek Corinthian temple. The museum was closed in 2009 for renovations.

The Bode Museum reopened in 2006 after nearly 10 years of renovations. This museum exhibits a large collection of sculptures, one of the largest numismatic collections in the world and a selection of paintings from Gemaldegalerie. New Museum (Neues Museum) was opened in 2009 and hosts a collection of pieces of Greek and Egyptian art. This museum has a connection with Altes Museum. The most famous exhibit of the museum is the bust of Queen Nefertiti. In Pergamon Museum you can admire a collection of Greek and Babylonian antiquities, which include Ishtar Gate from Babylon, but also the enormous Pergamon Altar. On the island there are many other important buildings. One of them is the Cathedral, Berlin Protestant Cathedral, built in the late 18th century as a replica of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Program
from Tuesday to Sunday – 10 am - 18 pm
Monday - Closed

Price
14 euro/person - for each museum
Area ticket (for all 5 museums) - 18 euro/person

Street Address:
Museuminsel Bodestrasse 1
10178 Berlin, Germany

Shipping:
U-Bahn / S-Bahn: Friedrichstrasse
Tram 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, or 53 Less