Museum Island

Museum Island (Museumsinsel) is a unique ensemble of five museums situated on an island in the Spree River in the heart of Berlin. The complex was built between 1830 and 1930 and represents a remarkable example of urban planning and architectural evolution. The island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. The five museums comprising Museum Island are: the Altes Museum (Old Museum), built in 1830, which houses the Classical Antiquities collection; the Neues Museum (New Museum), reconstructed in 2009 after extensive war damage, home to the Egyptian Museum and the bust of Nefertiti; the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), built in 1876, featuring 19th-century paintings and sculptures; the Bode Museum, completed in 1904, which houses sculpture collections and the Museum of Byzantine Art; and the Pergamon Museum, finished in 1930, famous for its monumental reconstructed buildings like the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. The museums collectively showcase art, culture, and history spanning 6,000 years, from ancient Egypt and the Middle East to Greece, Rome, and Europe. A recent addition to Museum Island is the James Simon Gallery, a central visitor center and entrance building designed by David Chipperfield, completed in 2019. Visitors can purchase a Museum Island day pass that provides access to all five museums, making it possible to experience this extraordinary concentration of cultural treasures in a single visit.