As far as museum culture is concerned, and without detracting from other important European capitals, it doesn’t get much better than Berlin if you want to spend a lot of time admiring works of art or collections from contemporary history right up to the present era. Here, we’re going to take a look at some of the city’s best museums, so if you’re planning a visit to Berlin soon, keep reading.
Our tour will focus on the most obvious place in the German capital to visit several museums in a few square meters. Museum Island is home to five impressive museums that bring together some of the most important works in the history of art on an island in the River Spree.
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, and with more than 200 years of life, the island with its neoclassical buildings is a must-visit where you’ll get more than your fill of art and maybe even a few bouts of Stendhal syndrome along the way.
The most visited museum on the island is Pergamon, which houses breathtaking works of art such as the Pergamon Altar, and the majestic Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon.
Another resident on the island is the Old National Gallery of Berlin. It hosts a complete and extensive collection of works from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, including works by Rodin, Renoir and Monet.
And without stepping off the island, you’ll have the opportunity to marvel at the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti in the New Museum, which was severely damaged in the Second World War and then reopened in 2009.
The Old Museum was the first to be built on the island and is the oldest museum open to the public in all Berlin. It’s an exhibition area rich in pieces from ancient Greece to the Roman Empire. The museum also houses a vast array of precious metalwork, jewellery, ceramics, busts and portraits.
We conclude our tour of the cultural island at the Bode Museum, home to a large collection of Byzantine art, an extensive range of sculptures, and several rooms devoted to numismatics.
