+ 7 museums +
some important museums.
The State Museums of Berlin (SMB) offer a great bargain: a 3-day-ticket (named “Schaulust”, € 19) covers all their 60 (or so) museums. It can be purchased in any SMB museum. On Thu evening, from 4 hours before any SMB museum closes, admission is free for everybody. The ones marked with (SMB) below belong to the State Museums of Berlin.
Here a choice of places:
Deutsches Historisches Museum
Also known as „Zeughaus“. Daily 10-18, € 5. A remarkable museum on German history. Has both a permanent and temporary exhibitions.
(Unter den Linden 2)
Deutsche Guggenheim (SMB)
Daily 11-20. Temporary exhibitions of big-fish contemporary artists.
(Unter den Linden 13-15)
Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
Alte Nationalgalerie (SMB)
Mon closed, Thu 10-22, other days 10-18. Located on the island just east of the Zeughaus, 19th century European art.
Pergamon Museum (SMB)
Daily 10-18, Thu 10-22. Shows (among other things) a giant 120 meter altar frieze from Pergamon, the Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate from Nebuchadnezzar´s Babylon – right, the entire thing.
Altes Museum (SMB)
Daily 10-18, Thu 10-22. shows ancient Roman and Greek art.
Neue Nationalgalerie (SMB)
Mon closed, Thu 10-22, other days 10-18. 20th-century European art (Picasso, Miró, Dix, Grosz etc). The building (a steel & glass cube) is designed by the famous Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe.
Nationalgalerie Im Hamburger Bahnhof / Museum für Gegenwart(SMB)
Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. Admission € 8. Mon closed, Tue-Fri 10-18, Sat 11-20, Sun 11-18.
Deutsches Technikmuseum
Admission € 4.50. Mon closed, Tue-Fri 9-17:30, Sat/Sun 10-18.
If you can´t make it to Munich´s Deutsches Museum at least visit this one: what Germany is famous for, still good at and propels our economy is engineering. This museum boasts every bit of it from early industrialization to space age.
Jüdisches Museum
Mon 10-22, Tue-Sun 10-20, € 5. The largest Jewish museum in Europe, a must-see. The building itself is a celebrated masterpiece of the architect Daniel Liebeskind.
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Open daily 9-22, € 12.50 (students € 7.50). Documents the history of the wall and escapes from the GDR.
Topographie des Terrors
Daily 10-sunset. Free admission. Open-air exhibition on the former site of the SS & secret police headquarters.
DDR museum
Right on the river Spree, directly opposite the Berlin Cathedral. Open daily 10-20, admission € 5.50. This interactive exhibition gives you a hands-on experience of everyday life in the GDR. It has a shop with lovely folding models of concrete-slab GDR architecture – and of course original pieces of The Wall, certified authentic.