I really like visiting museums, especially those that focus on history, anthropology and archaeology. Berlin is ideal for museum lovers like myself because of Museum Island, a cluster of museums on the northern half of an island in the Spree River, right in the middle of the city.
Museum Island consists of five museums, each with a different focus and each housed in a magnificent building. For example, the Neues has Egyptian and prehistoric collections, the Pergamon has ancient Middle Eastern artifacts, the Bode features European sculptures, while the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) holds 19th-century artwork.
I didn’t have time to visit all of these museums so I chose the Neues (New) Museum, which despite its name was built in 1859. The neighboring Altes (Old) Museum was built in 1830. The Egyptian exhibits featured mummies, tombs, papyrus scrolls, and busts of pharaohs, while there were also Germanic and Celtic exhibitions. The Germanic exhibition features prehistoric objects and fossils that were found around Berlin. It is an impressive museum in a very spacious and fine building.
The other four museums on Museum Island are:
-the Pergamom, which features ancient artifacts from across the Middle East including Persia, Egypt and Asia Minor
-the Bode Museum, which features sculptures from Medieval times to the late 18th century
-the Altes (Old Museum), which features arts and sculptures from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire
-the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), which features 19th century artworks
How to get there: Museum Island is in between the Berlin Friedrichstraße and S Hackescher Markt stations on the S-Bahn rapid transit line.
Note: You can buy a day ticket for all 5 museums online or you can buy a single ticket at the door if you just want to visit one museum.
The museums are closed on Mondays.
Ancient Egyptian art showing a royal couple walking in a garden
Bronze Age Golden Hat, covered with celestial symbols, found in Germany
Pensive Prehistoric man
