Berlin Museum Island is a separate architectural ensemble of several old as well as new museum buildings, located in the north of the Spreeinsel island in the center Berlin. It houses a unique collection of art, which was collected by the Germans over several centuries.

However, not only the museum exhibits are valuable, but also the buildings of the complex themselves, which, by the way, are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The oldest building, called the Old Museum, was built in 1830. The building of the “New Museum” – in 1859. The Bode Museum (previously called the Kaiser Friedrich Museum) opened in 1903. The last building, in 1930, was the Pergamon Museum.

The main facade of the Old Museum. View from Lustgarten

Finding the museum island of Berlin is very easy: it is located in the very center of the city near the cathedral Berliner House and the Lustgarten park. The nearest metro stations: “Friedrichstrasse station” and “Berlin Hackescher Markt” are a 7-8 minute walk from here. Typically, it is from this place that excursion groups begin their familiarization tours of Berlin.

The facade of the “Old Museum” faces directly onto the Lustgarten square. MashaPasha were pleasantly surprised: at night the building and sculptures of the museum facade are beautifully illuminated with multi-colored spotlights, it all looks like a light show.

Masha Pasha liked the night illumination of the facade of the Old Museum

In total, Berlin’s Museum Island includes 5 museums:

1. Old Museum(Altes Museum). The entrance ticket costs 10 euros. A collection of antiquities from the period of antiquity (sculptures, weapons and armor, jewelry) is stored here.

Collection of antique helmets in the Old Museum

2. New Museum(Neues Museum). The entrance ticket here is 12 euros. It is a new museum in words (it’s just that this building was built a little later than the “Old Museum”, that’s why it was called “new”). In fact, it houses the most ancient exhibits, including a collection of ancient Egyptian art, including the famous bust of Nefertiti.

The famous bust of Nefertiti is kept in the New Museum of the Museum Island of Berlin.

3. Pergamon MuseumThe entrance ticket here will cost 12 euros. Here you can see unique architectural exhibits and sculptures from different ancient eras (including Ancient Western Asia, Medieval Islam, Ancient Greece and Rome). The most interesting thing here is the large-scale reconstruction of entire architectural complexes, for example, the main gate of Babylon Ishtar, the Pergamon Altar, etc.

4. Bode Museum(Bode-Museum). Ticket price: 10 euros. There is a unique collection of ancient coins, Byzantine art objects, objects from the early European Middle Ages, etc.

5. Old National Gallery(Alte Nationalgalerie). Entrance fee: 10 euros. Here you can see paintings and other art objects from the 19th century.

Ancient Greek ceramics. Old Museum.

And now the fun part: by paying 18 euros for a combined ticket, you can visit all five museums! Buy this ticket can be here. If you want to visit only the New Museum and see the bust of Nefertiti, you can buy an entrance ticket for 12 euros at this link.

It is better to buy tickets in advance, there will be long queues at the box office. All museums on the island are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Thursday is an extended day: museums close at 20:00. Monday is a day off.

According to the authors of mashapasha.com, visiting the museum island of Berlin requires a whole day of free time. There are many different exhibits housed in separate buildings. It takes time to look at all this. In MashiPasha’s opinion, the most interesting is the ancient Egyptian selection of the New Museum, as well as the historical reconstructions of Pergamon. But here, as they say, to each his own.

Ancient bas-relief. Most architectural elements can be seen in the Pergamon Museum.