1.Pergamonmuseum
This impressive museum on the Museuminsel is a vast treasure trove of antiquities (for further details see Pergamonmuseum).
Exhibit at the Pergamonmuseum
2.Ägyptisches Museum
Museumsinsel, Bodestr. 1 • 030 266 424 242 • 10am–6pm daily (until 8pm Thu) • Adm charge • www.smb.museum The star exhibit in the Egyptian Museum, which is a part of the Neues Museum, is the beautiful bust of Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaton. The long-necked limestone bust, discovered in 1912, was copied all over ancient Egypt. Also worth seeing is the “Berlin Green Head”, a small bust from the 4th century BC. The museum also holds numerous mummies, sarcophagi, murals and sculptures (for further details see Ägyptisches Museum).
3.Deutsches Historisches Museum
Germany’s largest history museum uses unique exhibits, documents and films to take the visitor on a journey through German history, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Special exhibitions are devoted to particular themes (for further details see Deutsches Historisches Museum).
4.Dahlem Museums
These three museums are a fantastic resource of exotic and historic European cultures (for further details see Dahlem Museums). The Museum of Ethnology is devoted to the cultures of the Pacific, North and South America and Africa. The Museum of Asian Art has exquisite collections from China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia. The Museum of European Cultures explores everyday life within Europe’s cultural and historical contexts. Its collections will eventually move to the Humboldt-Forum (for further details see Museum für Kommunikation).
5.Jüdisches Museum
The Jewish Museum, housed in a spectacular building designed by Daniel Libeskind, documents the German–Jewish relationship through the centuries. There are special exhibitions on the influence of Berlin Jews on the town’s cultural life, and on the life of the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. An empty room commemorates the loss of Jewish culture. There is also an excellent programme of special events (for further details see Jüdisches Museum).
6.Deutsches Technikmuseum
The fascinating German Museum of Technology, built on the site of a former railway goods yard, has some exciting hands-on displays on the history of technology (for further details see Deutsches Technikmuseum).
A Junkers Ju 52 plane on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum
7.Kunstgewerbemuseum
Matthäikirchplatz • 030 266 424 242 • 10am–6pm Tue–Fri, 11am–6pm Sat–Sun • Admission charge • www.smb.museum European crafts spanning over five centuries are on display here. Its most valuable exhibits are the treasure of the Guelphs from Braunschweig and the silver treasure of the town council in Lüneburg. The museum also holds Italian tin-glazed earthenware, Renaissance faïence and German Baroque glass and ceramics. Popular displays show Neo-Classical porcelain and furniture, Jugendstil art and Tiffany vases (for further details see Kunstgewerbemuseum).
8.Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
The museum at the former Allied checkpoint hosts an exhibition documenting events at the Berlin Wall (for further details see Haus am Checkpoint Charlie).
9.Museum für Naturkunde
Invalidenstr. 43 • 030 20 93 85 91 • 9:30am–6pm Tue–Fri, 10am–6pm Sat–Sun • Admission charge • www.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de With over 30 million specimens in its collection, the Natural History Museum is one of the largest of its kind in the world. One of the star features is the world’s largest dinosaur skeleton, a brachiosaurus found in Tanzania in 1909. There are six more dinosaur skeletons as well as a variety of fossils. Together, they take the visitor back to prehistoric times. It is also worth making a visit to the glittering exhibition of meteorites and minerals (for further details see Museum für Naturkunde).
10.Musikinstrumentenmuseum
Ben-Gurion-Str. 1 • 030 25 48 10 • 9am–5pm Tue–Fri (to 8pm Thu), 10am–5pm Sat–Sun • Admission charge • www.sim.spk-berlin.de Some 800 musical instruments can be heard in this museum, including Frederick the Great’s harpsichord (for further details see Musikinstrumentenmuseum). Don’t miss the silent-film organ which still works (noon, first Saturday of the month).
18th-century hunting horn
