Museum Island, Museum complex on Spree Island in Mitte, Germany
Museum Island is a complex of five large museums on a narrow strip of land between the Spree and the Kupfergraben canal in central Berlin. The individual buildings stand in a row and form together an ensemble of neoclassical and neo-baroque facades with columns, domes and wide front steps.
The first building on the island was completed in 1830 with the Altes Museum, intended as a public collection for the people of Berlin. The remaining four structures followed until 1930, with the Pergamon Museum being the last to be finished and today remaining partly closed due to renovation work.
The Alte Nationalgalerie stands like a Roman temple above the Spree and shows 19th-century German painting in its tall halls. The Bode Museum at the northern tip has carried its name since 1956 and presents Byzantine art in a building with a domed entrance right by the water.
Anyone wishing to see all the collections should plan at least a full day, as each building covers several floors and numerous rooms. The structures stand close together, so you can walk from one to the next, with the Lustgarten serving as a central open space.
The James Simon Gallery from 2019 functions as a shared entrance for several museums and connects the historic buildings with modern glass panels and white concrete columns. Visitors can move from there directly into the underground link between the structures without having to return to the street.
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