Int his section Sasha offers you brief descriptions of the main Berlin Museums grouped according to the following thematic areas:
Ancient world and antiquities
Egyptian Museum
Agyptisches Museum
Schlosstrasse 70,
Charlottenburg 14059
U2 Sophie-Charlotte Platz,
U7 Richard Wagner Platz
Open: Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat/Sun 11am-6pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 (concs),
FREE on Sunday
phone: 030 - 34 35 73 11
This is where you find the bust of Queen Nefertiti, arguably the most beautiful woman the world ever saw, which dates from 1350 BC and remained buried for 3000 years before German archaeologists tracked it down again.
Pergamon Museum
Bodestr. 1-3,
Mitte 10178
S Hackescher Markt
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, Thu 10am-10pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs
FREE first Sunday of the month
phone: 030 - 20 90 55 66
English available: Audio Tape Tour
One of the world´s most well-known archaeological museums and best known for the superbly preserved Gate of Ishtar, the Hellenistic Pergamon altar and other architectural and artistic wonders of the ancient Greek, Roman and Babylonian world. The number one highlight remains the white carved marble Pergamon Altar, which dates from 180-160 BC.
Art Design and Architecture
Altes Museum
Bodestr. 1-3,
Mitte 10178
S3 S4 S6 S9 Hackescher Markt
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: varies, depending on current exhibitions
Tel: 030 - 20 90 55 66
Designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel with a grand entrance rotunda, based on the Roman Pantheon the most renowned example of Berlin Classicism. The first Royal Museum, originally built to house royal art treasures for public viewing, first opened in 1830.
Bauhaus Archiv-Museum
Klingelhoferstr 13-14,
Tiergarten 10785
Open: Wed-Mon 10am-5pm, Library with Bauhaus documents Mon-Fri 9am-1pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs
Tel: 030 - 2 54 00 20
English available: Brochure (DM 3) NB Tours need to be booked two weeks in advance.
Artefacts from the Bauhaus School movement of the 1920s - until 1933 - designed by architect Walter Gropius (see Gropius Museum) including sculpture, photography, design, furniture and paintings by Klee, Kandinsky and other limelights of the golden pre-Nazi days. Tips: Good Library with Bauhaus documents. Good cafeteria.
English available: Computer exhibition gives good background context to Bauhaus movement.
Brohan Museum
Schlosstr 1A,
Charlottenburg 14059
S45, S46 Westend, U2 Sophie-Charlotte-Platz, U7 Richard-Wagner-Platz
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: EUR3, EUR1.5 concs.
Tel: 030 - 32 69 06 00
From businessman Karl Bröhan´s private collection the museum has a private feel. The collection spans Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces, painting, furniture and objets d´art from 1890s to the pre-war period. Look out for Hans Baluschek´s social life portraits from the 1920s and ´30s.
Brucke Museum
Bussardsteig 9,
Zehlendorf, 14195
Oskar-Helene-Heim
Open: Wed-Mon 11am - 5pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs.
Tel: 030 - 8 31 20 29
English available: brochures, Tour available EUR35, book two weeks in advance
Paintings from the pre-expressionist exponents of the Brücke (bridge) Movement which was coined in 1905 in Dresden. You can combine a walk around Dahlem or in the Grunewald forest area, as the museum is situated on its outskirts.
Picture Gallery
Gemalegalerie
Stauffenbergstr 40,
Tiergarten 10785
U2 Potsdamer Platz
Open: Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Thu until 10pm
Admission: EUR2.5, EUR1.5 concs.
Tel: 030 - 20 90 55 55
English available: brochures
Not to be confused with the Neue National Galerie (which is older, dating back to 1960s). Now part of what is known as the Kulturforum complex completed in 1988. Vast collection of European Art and schools including masterpieces from German, Dutch, Italian, French, Flemish and Spanish masters through the centuries from Botticelli onwards. One of the most significant collections of Rembrant´s canvasses is on display.
Martin Groupius Bau
Niederkirchnerstr 7,
Kreuzberg 10963
U2,S Potsdamer Platz
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-8pm
Admission: EUR5, EUR3.5
Tel: Berliner Festspiele 030 - 25 48 61 12
English available: brochures
Named after its architect, this spectacular building was once threatened until the 1970s by plans for an innercity motorway. Originally built as an arts and crafts museum it is known for its magnificent facade and elegant reliefs and mosaics. Today it is one of the most renowned exhibition venues in Berlin.
Neue Nationalgalerie
Potsdamer Strasse 50,
Tiergarten 10785
U1 Kurfustenstrasse,U+S Potsdamer Platz, or a 15 minute walk from the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Potsdamer Platz
Open: Tue-Fri 10am-8pm, Thu opened until 10pm, Sat/Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs.
Tel: 030 - 20 90 55 66
English available: brochures, guided tours
Designed in the 1960s by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who returned to Berlin from exile for this commission, to create a modern temple of art in steel and glass. The Museum today houses 20th century German and international painting, a vast and through journey through the great masterpieces and grand masters of the past century.
Hamburger Bahnhof
Invalidenstr 50-51,
Tiergarten 10557
S3, S5, S9 Lehrter Stadtbahnhof
Open: Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Thu until 10pm, Sat-Sun 11am-6pm
Admission: EUR6, EUR3 concs
Tel: 030 - 3 97 83 40
The Museum-in-former-railway-station is a must for its exterior light installation by Dan Flavin and permanent exhibition which includes works by Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys (including a video archive of his performances ) and Amselm Kiefer. Excellent art bookshop. Look out for events and performances.
Kathe Kollwitz-Museum
Fasanenstrasse 24,
Charlottenburg 10719
U3 Uhlandstrasse, or a short walk down the Ku´damm from the Zoo
Open: Wed-Mon 11am-6pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs
Tel: 030 - 8 82 52 10
English available: Guided tours on request
Kollwitz´s (1867-1945) charcoal drawings are powerful expressionist portrayals of life´s strongest emotions. Housed in a villa in the elegant off-the-Kudamm side street. You can have lunch or coffee at the very civilised Literatur Haus next door, to top it up.
Schloß Charlottenburg
Luisenplatz and Spandauer Damm,
Charlottenburg 14059
U2 Sophie-Charlotte-Platz/U7
Open: Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm
Admission: EUR4, EUR2 concs (combined admission) or single admissions possible.
Tel: 030 - 32 09 11
English available: Guided Tour in English has to be arranged. Give two weeks notice.
Built in 1695 for Queen Sophie Charlotte, you can see the living quarters of Frederick the Great (1740-1786) including his personal painting collection. There are classics from Romantic Caspar David Friedrich and the Schinkel Pavilion packed with paintings drawings and more from the multi-faceted Schinkel himself.
German History and World War II
Allied Museum
Clayallee 135,
Zehlendorf 14195
Open: Thu-Tue 10am-6pm
Admission: FREE
phone: 030 - 8 18 19 90
English available: brochures, displays, Tours (English and French) for one group (30) DM 70.
Documenting the presence of the Allied forces in Berlin which lasted until 1994, the exhibition concentrates on the period of the Blockade and the 1948 Luftbrücke (airlift) which kept Berliners´ morale going. You can find memorabilia of the time such as tanks, uniforms and even music. Don´t miss old stop- and -search border checkpoint outside where the infamous sign "You are now leaving the American Sector" once stood.
Anti-War Museum Anti-Kriegsmuseum
Brusselerstrasse 21,
Wedding 13353
Open: Mon-Sun 4pm to 8pm
Admission: FREE
phone: 030 - 45 49 01 10
English available: Tour
Run by Englishman Tommy Spree who will take you around the museum himself, if you arrange for a guided tour in advance, the museum is a collection of war-related exhibits and has a long history of decline and fall as it was torn down by the Nazis twice, since its original foundation in 1925 by pacifist Ernst Friedrich. You will find anything from World War 1 photos and anti-semitic propaganda to documents on the German colonial period.
German History Museum
Deutsches Historisches Museum
Unter den Linden 2,
Mitte 10117
S3, S5, S6,S9/U6 Friedrichstrasse
Open: NB closed until 2002
Admission:
phone: 030 - 20 30 40
The history of the Zeughaus or armoury is as much history as the collection which it houses. The baroque armoury building, dated 1706 became an army museum and during the GDR its permanent exhibits were the official `revised´ version of the history, offering amusing examples of the history of progress such as the first ever industrially produced washing machine. GDR paraphernalia will be exhibited again too. Now undergoing major re-structuring it will open to the public again in 2002.
German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst
Deutsch-Russisches Museum Berlin
Zwieseler Strasse 4,
Karlshorst 10318
S3 Karlhorst
Open: Tues-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: free
Tel: 030 - 50 15 08 10
English available: Guide, EUR2
VE (Victory in Europe) day was signed here on May 8, 1945 when German commanders signed the final capitulation of Nazi Germany, formally ending the Second World War in Europe. Permanent exhibition traces 80 years of German-Soviet relationship.
Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Friedrichstrasse 44,
Kreuzberg 10969
U6 Kochstrasse
Open: 9am-10pm daily
Admission: EUR6, EUR3 concs.
phone: 030 - 2 53 72 50
English available: exhibition is in German, English and French.
Step back in the time to the days of the Cold War and the Wall, erected in 1961. The exhibition shows vivid examples of the attempts to escape life behind the iron curtain, including the propeller car. A testament to the spirit which helped bring the Wall down and reunite Berlin. Run by the museum´s founder Herr Hildebrandt and his Russian wife who have fought to hold on to it and maintain at least a small relic of the old border patrol at Koch strasse where visitors used to be allowed to cross over for a day´s hop to the East.
Luftwaffe Museum
Kladower Damm 182,
Spandau 14089
U7 Rathaus Spandau, bus 135 to Gutsstrasse
Open: Tue-Sun 9am-5pm
Admission: free
phone: 030 - 36 87 26 00
English available: info leaflet
The exhibition is housed in an old hangar, you can find here information and exhibits on the history of the Luftwaffe and airplanes from the beginning of the century to aircraft used by the East German airforce and 1970´s NATO equipment.
Stasi Museum Ministerium für Staatssicherheit Forschungs - und Gedenkstatte Normannenstrasse
Ruschestr 59,
Lichtenberg 10365
U5 Magdalenstrasse
Open: Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Tue-Sat-Sun 2pm-6pm
Admission: EUR2.5, EUR1.5 concs
phone: 030 - 5 53 68 54
Spying was big business and a many-tentacled monster in the days of GDR communism. State security operations were masterminded from the Stasi (Ministerium fur Staatssicherheits headquarters and toda, alongside busts of Marx and Lenin, the museummausoleum houses relics of cold war spying operations including bugging devices, and hidden spy camera. You can enter the office of secret police chief Erich Mielke, who recently passed away.
Topography of Terror Foundation Topographie des Terrors
Niederkirchnerstr. 8,
Kreuzberg 10963
S1, S2 Anhalter Banhof
Open: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: Free
phone: 030 - 25 48 67 03
English available: Catalogue DM 10
A must for first time visitors. This exhibit, in former GESTAPO HQs cellars, uncovered by a citizens action group in 1986, documents the Nazi regime of terror masterminded from the Prinz Albrecht Palais which stood on these grounds.
Jewish Culture in Berlin
New Synagogue/Centrum Judaicum
New Synagogue
Oranienburgerstr 28-29,
Mitte 10117
S1, S2 Oranienburger Strasse
Open: Sun-Thurs 10am-6pm, Fri 10am-2pm, from May to August longer opening hours
NB CLOSED on Saturdays and Jewish Holidays
Admission: EUR4, EUR2.20 concs
phone: 030 - 88 02 83 16
English available: guided tours Sun 2pm, 4pm - Wed 4pm, call to book first (EUR 50/EUR32), brochures and exhibition is labelled in English, too
The jewel in the crown of the Jewish community and Jewish worship in Germany with its chilling reminder of the Kristallnacht events of the November 1938 pogrom. Built in the 1860´s, burnt down, damaged during WW2 war raids, demolished in part in 1958 during the GDR time, its striking golden, Moorish Dome was restored in 1988 and the Synagogue formally opened again in 1995 as a cultural centre. Excellent permanent exhibition on Jewish life in Berlin, events and Cafe.
New Jewish Museum
Judisches Museum
Lindenstrasse 9-14,
Berlin 10969
Open: Museum will open on September 9th 2001
Admission:
phone: 030 - 25 99 33 00
e-mail: info@jmberlin.de
English available: Guided Tours in English Mon-Sun 1.30 to 3.00 pm
Other languages available: French, Italian
The most visited museum in Germany at present. A visit to the JMB will be a memorable and uplifting experience. This is arguably Polish-born architect Daniel Libeskind´s most powerful contribution - a lasting, timeless monument to Jewish history and life in Berlin and Germany. Set to become Europe's largest Jewish museum, this spectacularly conceived zinc building, based on the historical and emotional parameters of the Holocaust, deserves a guided tour in itself for a fuller appreciation of the scale of vision and inspiration from which it stems. As an aesthetic and emotional package it doesn´t get much better than this. UNMISSABLE.
Transport and communication
Museum of Transport and Technology
Museum fur Verkehr und Technik
Trebbiner Strasse 9,
Kreuzberg 10963
Open: Tue-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm
Admission: EUR2.5, EUR1 concs, EUR0.5 for groups of 10
phone: 030 - 25 48 40
Rail exhibits from 1835 to the present day, provide a boy´s own dream-world. Packed with instruments and technological oddities and industrial objects. The first computer is also preserved for posterity here
Communications Museum
Museum fur Kommunikation Berlin
Leipziger Strasse 16,
Mitte 10177
U2 Mohrenstrasse, U6 Stadtmitte and Bus 142, 348
Open: Tue-Fri 9 am - 5 pm, Sat, Sun and holidays 11 am-7 pm
Admission: FREE
phone: 030 - 20 29 40
Founded originally in 1872 as the world´s first Post museum, it is a recent addition to Berlin´s museums list. You can wander through the permanent exhibition which guides you through the history, present and future of communications. The world´s most famous stamp is also on display.
Music and theatre
Museum of Musical Instruments
Musikinstrumenten Museum
Tiergartenstr 1,
Tiergarten 10785
Open: Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun
Admission: EUR2, EUR1concs, under 12 FREE
phone: 030 - 25 48 11 78
Just next door to the Philharmonie the museum houses a vast collection of over 2000 instruments from the 1500s onwards. Guided tours will show you how old instruments, like Bach´s Kammerflugel, sounded. Look out for concerts, held here every first Saturday of the month.
Brecht House
Brecht Haus
Chausseestrasse 125,
Mitte 10115
Open: Tue-Fri 5pm-7pm, Sat 9.30am-noon
Admission:EUR3, EUR1.5
phone: 030 - 2 83 05 70 44
Bertolt Brecht, author of the Three Penny Opera and Mother Courage headed the Berliner Ensemble, theatrical limelight of the GDR. Brecht lived in this house from 1948 in 1953. A 30 mins.tour is available and the Brecht archives are upstairs. Brecht´s grave can also be visited as he is buried in the nearby cemetery, Friedrichswerdersche Friedhof.
