Museums in Berlin

There are many wonderful museums in Berlin.  We went to a few when we were here for a summer a few years ago.  We didn't get to any this summer as it was tourist season and rainy, which seemed like a terribly crowded time to try to go to a museum.  However, now that we are settled in we are ready to take advantage of the collections here in Berlin.

The nice thing about living here is that the year pass is so cheap.  A year museum pass to all Berlin state museums (which include the big ones I will mention below) is only 40 Euros (about $53).  This does not include special exhibits, but we found most of the special exhibits we cared about are private and wouldn't be covered by year pass plus (which is still only 80 Euros).  3 visits to the more expensive museums covers the cost of the year pass, so it is a good deal if you go to museums.  It is also nice because you can go for an hour and leave and not feel like you wasted your money.

Market Gate of Miletus

We used our new passes at the Neues Museum (the New Museum).  It was closed for renovation the last time we were here, so we had not been before.  The name New Museum is misleading however, as it includes the ancient Egyptian collection, the pre-history and early history collection, and the part of the collection of Classical Antiquities.  We took advantage of being able to return whenever we wanted and only explored the first floor.  It had lots of ancient Egyptian artifacts, which is my favorite thing to see at a museum.  The thing that struck us most so far about this museum is that it is not well organized.  It seemed that some artifacts didn't fit with others and the exhibits didn't really tell a story.  We enjoyed it never the less and look forward to seeing the rest of it.  I also look forward to the new exhibit they are putting together on how the war impacted the museum.  I know that many of the artifacts were taken and some are still in other countries or missing.  Others were destroyed.  It will be interesting to see.


We have also been to the Altes Museum (the Old Museum).  When we were there last it housed the famous bust of Nefertiti, which is now in the re-opened Neues Museum.  Because they had put a significant portion of the Egyptian collection here, I am anxious to go back and see what is there now that all of that is gone.

Section of the Gates of Ishtar

My favorite Berlin museum so far is the Pergamon Museum.  It is named for the Pergamon Altar, from Turkey, that is reconstructed inside the museum.  The altar is huge.  In fact this museum is gigantic!  It has several reconstructed parts of several story buildings.   The Market Gate of Miletus (also from Turkey), which is a two story tall stone temple-like front from 120 AD is there.  And my favorite thing to see is the Ishtar Gate, one of the city gates to ancient Babylon constructed in 575 BC.  This is one of the coolest things.  I just couldn't believe all of the color!  There are lots of other things to see here, but these are the highlights for sure.  I can't wait to see the things we missed last time and see some of the exhibits again.

The Germans did a lot of excavating throughout the world.  You can of course always argue about museums and their acquisitions and whether things should leave the country of origin or not.  However, if you are in Berlin, it is worth the trip to see the things that are here.