Museum Island

All the museums in the Museum Island are open for visitors from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM, closing late at 8 PM on Thursday. The Panorama exhibition, the Pergamon and Neues Museum are further open for visitation on Monday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

Altes Museum
The Altes Museum, constructed between 1823 and 1830 and also known as the Old Museum Building, is known for its unique neoclassical style of architecture and classic antique collection of the Berlin State Museum. Antiques like Greek glass amphora from 2nd century BC and Ancient Greek helmets are displayed on the ground floor of this museum while special exhibitions are held on the second floor.

Neues Museum
While Neues Museum (New Museum) was built between 1843 and 1855, the beginning of World War 2 marked it closed, and the building was damaged terribly due to the bombing of Berlin during the second world war. But it was officially reopened in 2009, and it is now renowned across the world for its contemporary architecture, Egyptian and ancient collections and artefacts such as the legendary bust of Nefertiti, the Egyptian queen.

Alte Nationalgalerie
Established in 1861, Alte Nationalgalerie or Old National gallery displays one of the most extensive collections of 19th-century paintings and sculptures in Germany. These artworks are inspired by various movements such as Neoclassical, Romantic, Impressionist, early Modernist, and Biedermeier, and all are a part of Berlin National Gallery.

Bode Museum
Constructed in 1904, Bode museum is named as a tribute to its first curator, Wilhelm von Bode. Since Wilhelm believed in merging art collections, the museum has a varied collection of sculptures, coins, medals, and Byzantine art, displayed chronologically and geographically across the first and second floors of the museum. The coin cabinet in the museum contains over 500,000 items dating from the beginning of mining in the 7th century to the present.

Pergamon Museum
Constructed and designed over a period of 20 years from 1910 to 1930, the Pergamon museum houses a breathtaking antiquity collection, Islamic artwork, and several monumental buildings such as Pergamon Altar, Market Gate of Miletus, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the Mshatta Facade.

Humboldt Forum is the future large-scale project that is expected to open by the end of 2019 and will be the result of the reconstruction of Berlin Palace in the Museum Islands. It will be the museum of world culture tracing the roots of the successor museum - Ancient Prussian Art Chamber, which was a part of Berlin Palace. The museum will be named after the two brothers - Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt.

Upon its completion, it is expected to house two restaurants, a theatre, a movie theatre, Ethnological Museum of Berlin, Museum of Asian Art, and an auditorium. Some of the artefacts that visitors can expect on display in this museum are the ship from the Island Luf, the hand of a Western Gorilla, Vishnu, Nandi, etc.

In the early 19th century, the German Bourgeoisie became keen to embrace new ideas such as art, and that cultural education should be made accessible to every citizen in the country. And thus, Karl Friedrich Schinkel started planning for a public museum that would hold royal art collection under the rule of King Frederick Wilhelm III. Inaugurated in August 1830, this building came to be known as Königliches Museum. Schinkel also renovated the Berliner Dom and Lustgarten. King Frederick Wilhelm III then declared in 1841, that the entire northern part of Spree Island (now known as 'Museum Island') "be transformed into a sanctuary for art and science".

Four years later, Neues Island (New Museum) was established, gaining Königliches Museum the new name of Altes Museum (Old Museum). A national gallery, now known as Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) was added in 1876. The Bode Museum and Pergamon Museum were only constructed in the early twentieth century in the year 1904 and 1920 respectively.

There are several public transport options that visitor can choose from in order to reach Museum Island. The S-Bahn train lines S1, S2, S25, S5, S7 or S75 stop at Hackescher Markt, and it takes just a 12 min walk from here to reach the Island. S-Bahn trains run from 4:30 AM to 1:30 AM on weekdays at 5-20 min intervals, depending on the time of the day, and 24 hours during weekends with 30-min intervals at night. One can also take bus 100 and 200 during the daytime, that stop at Lustgarten bus stop, 600m away from Pergamon Museum.

Metro trams M1 and M12 also stop near Kupfergraben that is a 5 min walk from the island. They run in 10-min intervals during the daytime and in every 30 minutes in the night time (after 12:30 AM). Visitors can also travel by U-Bahn (underground, subway) that run from 4 AM to 1 AM during weekdays, with 5-min intervals during the day time and 10-min intervals in the night. U-Bahn runs for 24 hours on weekends, with 10-min intervals during the day and 15-mins in the night. Underground U6 stops at Friedrichstr, that takes an 8 min walk to reach the Museum Island.