Museum Island
This year marks the start of five years of birthday celebrations for Berlin’s Museum Island, and with it one of the most ambitious cultural programmes in German museum history. The 200-year anniversary programme, which will take place from 2025 to 2029 will turn the UNESCO World Heritage site in the heart of Berlin into a living festival of human civilisation, and a fitting tribute to the vision that first made royal collections accessible to the public back in 1825.
The aim of the programme is to celebrate Museum Island as one of Europe’s most fascinating and stimulating cultural destinations. Each year 2.5 million people visit the exhibition spaces that, in turn, celebrate 6,000 years of human achievement.
A SANCTUARY FOR ART AND SCIENCE
When the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV issued a decree dedicating the island in the River Spree to “art and science”, he set in motion the development of the modern museum district. What makes Museum Island unique is that its initial architectural timeline spans its first hundred years, from the opening of the Altes Museum in 1830 to the completion of the Pergamon Museum in 1930, making it a living textbook of museum design.
This architectural legacy helped earn Museum Island its UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999 as the only major museum complex to be recognised specifically for its contribution to museum development, rather than simply for the impressive collections it houses. But of course, those collections are something special as well, justifying Museum Island’s global reputation through its breadth and focus.
FIVE YEARS OF CULTURAL CELEBRATION
Giving five years over to your birthday party means you can take your time and there’s lots of chance to shine. Each year from 2025 to 2029 will be dedicated to a different museum, while maintaining the island-wide programming. The first year is devoted to the oldest of the museums in the ensemble, the aptly named Altes Museum.
Starting on 10th July, “Grundstein Antike” at the Altes Museum celebrates the founding vision of the museum and how it established the template for public cultural access. Of course, the other museums have plenty that are worth exploring, from the Alte Nationalgalerie and its paintings and sculptures from Classicism, Romanticism, Impressionism and the early modern age, to the Neues Museum and its collection of antiquities and treasures of the Bode Museum.
You can find out more about each museum in more detail on the Visit Berlin website. It is worth noting that although the Pergamon Museum is closed for renovation until 2027, significant artifacts along with a monumental panorama by Yadegar Asisi are on display at Pergamonmuseum Das Panorama.
A CULTURAL STROLL FROM THE CIRCUS
Museum Island’s location in the centre of the city and its relationship with the neighbourhood around has created one of Europe’s most culturally interesting walking experiences, especially if you are coming from Rosenthaler Platz and The Circus. This 10-15 minute stroll connected UNESCO World Heritage sites with the contemporary creative energy that defines Berlin’s cultural renaissance since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Head south from Rosenthaler Platz to the historic Hackesche Höfe, eight interconnected Art Nouveau courtyards from 1906 that house galleries, boutiques and the atmospheric Chamäleon Theater, home to spectacular contemporary circus performances. Nearby Auguststraße forms the spine of Berlin’s gallery district, while Rosenthaler Straße is home to emerging talent in fashion and design.
If you are interested in visiting Berlin during the 200 years of Museum Island celebrations, remember that you always get the best price at The Circus when you book direct, and check out our offers page for early bird and long stay deals. Our programme of tours and events also helps you peer Behind the Curtain of everything that Berlin has to offer. Check out what’s coming up here.