National Museums in Berlin - SMB

The sixteen museums, three research institutes and the Replica Workshop of the National Museums in Berlin represent Germany’s largest institution for presenting world art and culture from their beginnings to the present day. This universal museum of art is funded jointly by national government and the federal states. Museum Island – the jewel of Berlin’s museum landscape – was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1999.

 

Today the National Museums in Berlin are part of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, but their origins stretch back to the Royal Museums founded by King William Frederick III of Prussia. The National Museums in Berlin unite the following museums and institutes under the roof of a single directorate-general:

 

• Art Library
• Collection of Classical Antiquities (in the Altes Museum and the Pergamonmuseum)
• Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection (in the Altes Museum)
• Ethnological Museum
• Gemäldegalerie - Old Master Paintings
• Museum for Asian Art
• Museum for Photography / Helmut Newton Foundation
• Museum for Pre- and Early History
• Museum of Decorative Arts
- Museum of Decorative Arts at Köpenick Palace
- Museum of Decorative Arts at the Kulturforum
• Museum of European Cultures
• Museum of Islamic Art (in the Pergamonmuseum)
• Museum of Prints and Drawings
• Museum of the Ancient Near East (in the Pergamonmuseum)
• National Gallery
- Old National Gallery
- New National Gallery
- Friedrichswerder Church
- Museum Berggruen
- Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin
- Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg
• Numismatic Collection (in the Bode-Museum)
• Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art (in the Bode-Museum)

 

 

• Central Archive
• Institute for Museum Research
• Rathgen Research Laboratory
• Replica Workshop  - Gipsformerei



MUSEUM QUARTERS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUMS IN BERLIN

 

Museum Island Berlin/Mitte:

The Museum Island, which was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1999, is home to five historical buildings. The Altes Museum contains the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, together with the world-famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, as well as the Collection of Classical Antiquities with works of art from Greece. The Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Islamic Art and the Museum of the Ancient Near East are presented in the Pergamonmuseum (built between 1910-1930), displaying high-points of ancient architecture such as the Pergamon Altar, the Ischtar Gate and the Mschatta Façade. Alongside the Archaeological Collections, the Old National Gallery (built between 1866-1876) presents painting and sculpture from the 19th century. After its re-opening (October 21st, 2006) the Bode-Museum (built between 1897-1904) houses the Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art, as well as works from the collection of the Gemäldegalerie - Old Master Paintings. The Numismatic Collection has been open to the public in this location since 2004. In 2009, the Neues Museum (built between 1841-1859) will be re-opened to the public. The Central Archive brings together sources about the art and cultural histories of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Friedrichswerder Church, a branch of the National Gallery which stands on Werderscher Markt, exhibits sculpture from the 19th century.

 

Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz/Tiergarten:

The Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz combines the collections of European art: the New National Gallery with the collection of classical modern art up to the 1970s (during the periods when the museum is not being used for temporary exhibitions), the Gemäldegalerie - Old Master Paintings with paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries, the Museum of Decorative Arts with an overview of decorative art and design from the Middle Ages to the present day, the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) as well as the Art Library which is a specialised art history library.

Near to the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof – Lehrter Bahnhof) is the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin with its collections of contemporary art.

 

Dahlem:

The Ethnological Museum presents ethnographic, archaeological and cultural history exhibits from Africa, Asia, America, Australia and the South Pacific in the ensemble of museums at Dahlem. The Museum for Asian Art offers an overview of art from the Indo-Asian cultural area and presents the spectrum of art from China, Japan and Korea. In addition to these collections of extra-European culture, the Museum of European Cultures houses European ethnographic and cultural history exhibits. Dahlem is also home to the Institute of Museum Research, a research and documentation establishment with a national remit.

 

Charlottenburg:

The Museum for Pre and Early History presents exhibits from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages in Schloss Charlottenburg’s Langhans wing. The emphasis of the Museum Berggruen is on the work of Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse. The Replica Workshop, in which custom-made replicas of works of art are sold, can also be found in Charlottenburg, as can the Rathgen Research Laboratory which is engaged in materials analysis and the conservation of cultural history objects. Opposite Zoologischer Garten station, the Museum for Photography brings together the photographic interests of the National Museums in Berlin. The Helmut Newton Foundation, which presents the life and work of the well-known photographer, is also based here.

 

Köpenick:

The annex of the Museum of Decorative Art can be found in Köpenick Palace (built between 1677-1689). The exhibition on the subject of ‘room art’ brings together furniture and decorative wall and interior art from the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo.