Discovering the German capital? Stop off at the Bode Museum in Berlin and explore almost 2,000 years of history! Tickets, prices, opening hours… Follow the guide!
The Bode Museum is located on the northern tip of the splendid Museumsinsel, Berlin’s Museum Island, which groups together five museums on the banks of the River Spree. Across the Monbijou Bridge, you can access this sumptuous Baroque building, which houses a range of 2,000 works in three collections: a sculpture gallery spanning the Middle Ages to classical times, the Museum of Byzantine Art and a collection of coins and medals. Are you interested?
Museum history, tours, prices, opening hours… Find out everything you need to know about the Bode Museum in Berlin in this article!
History of the Bode Museum in Berlin
The history of the Bode Museum began in 1871, in the heart of the German Empire, when the Imperial Court of Prussia expressed its desire to open an art museum on the island to house collections from the various Christian eras. However, it was only between 1897 and 1904 that the building was constructed, a veritable neo-Baroque masterpiece. Intended as a tribute to Emperor Friedrich III, it was named the Kaiser Friedrich Museum. Its architect, Ernst von Ihne, conceived the site in relation to its surroundings: it seems to emerge from the water of the River Spree. He endowed the museum with a sumptuous copper dome, which was badly damaged during the Second World War.
The Bode Museum, like the rest of Museum Island, belonged to East Germany (GDR) at the time. The museum fell victim to the massive bombing raids that ravaged the German capital, but was refurbished and reopened in 1956. It then took on its current name, Bode Museum, in honor of the museum’s first director and curator, Wilhelm von Bode. Indeed, this illustrious historian and eminent museum specialist is today considered one of the founders of today’s museography! It was he who worked on the museum’s organization, a complete break with the traditions of the time.
Between 2000 and 2005, the Bode Museum underwent further renovation work, providing visitors with a modern, spacious setting.
What to see and do at the Bode Museum
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A visit to the Bode Museum is an opportunity to admire the building’s architecture. Featuring a magnificent dome almost 40 meters high, it houses a number of rooms that are well worth a visit in themselves: marble floors, sumptuous wood-panelled ceilings, imposing staircases… Don’t miss the equestrian statue of King Friedrich III on the first floor!
But you don’t visit the Bode Museum for its architecture, do you? Here are the museum’s three main collections:
The Sculpture Gallery
A visit to the Bode Museum in Berlin gives you access to one of the most important sculpture collections in the world. The aim of this collection was to present the history of European sculpture, from the Middle Ages to the Classical period. It includes works of great importance to German art history, such as those by Tilman Riemenschneider, one of the most prolific sculptors of the Middle Ages. The Bode Museum is also home to true masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, including Donatello’s Madonna Pazzi and Antonio Canova’s Dancer with Cymbals.
The Museum of Byzantine Art
The Museum of Byzantine Art houses numerous works of ancient art dating from the late 3rd to the 15th century AD. They mainly represent art from the Mediterranean region, but also come from North Africa, Greece, Byzantium, the Balkans, Russia, the Near East, Egypt and Italy. In particular, visitors will be able to admire pre-Christian and Christian sarcophagi from Rome, figurative and ornamental sculptures from the Roman Empire, and religious and everyday objects from Egypt’s Roman period.
The Coin and Medal Cabinet
The Münzkabinet coin and medal collection is one of the largest numismatic collections in the world. It contains some 500,000 coins! The museum exhibits almost 4,000 of them in four cabinets, tracing the history of coins and, more broadly, of man and metal. A visit to the Bode Museum plunges you into this evocative world, from the beginnings of coinage in the 7th century B.C. to the present day. A must for numismatics enthusiasts – the study of coins and medals.
The Bode Museum also organizes temporary exhibitions, sometimes featuring African works of art, sometimes Rembrandt’s work, sometimes a collection of Renaissance paintings… To find out what temporary exhibitions are on while you’re in Berlin, visit the museum’s official website.
How to visit the Bode Museum
Would you like to visit the Bode Museum in Berlin? Here are the various tour options available to you:
- Self-guided tour of the museum ;
- Self-guided tour of the museum with audio-guide;
- Guided tours of the museum for groups;
- Guided tours by theme for adults and families;
- Workshops for children.
Allow several hours: the museum is vast! However, few people venture in, so the atmosphere is calm and pleasant.
How to get to the Bode Museum in Berlin
To visit the Bode Museum in Berlin, you need to get to the northern tip of Museum Island. There are several means of transport to choose from:
The metro
- U-Bahn U6, stop Friedrichstraße;
- S-Bahn S1, S2, S25, S26, stop Friedrichstraße;
- S-Bahn S3, S5, S7, S9, Hackescher Markt stop.
The bus
- TXL, Staatsoper stop ;
- 100, 200, Lustgarten stop ;
- 147, Friedrichstraße stop.
The streetcar
- M1, 12, Am Kupfergraben stop ;
- M4, M5, M6, Hackescher Markt stop.
The train
Berlin ‘s Friedrichstraße railway station is a ten-minute walk from the museum.
Bode Museum opening hours & rates
Photo Credit: Shutterstock / De LucVi
SCHEDULES
The opening hours of the Bode Museum in Berlin are as follows:
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 a.m. / 6 p.m.
- Thursday: 10 a.m. / 8 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. / 6 p.m.
Times are subject to change on public holidays: visit the Bode Museum website to plan your visit.
Please note: The museum is closed 30 minutes before closing time.
RATES
- Adults: €12
- Students: €6
- Museum Island and all exhibitions: €18
- Children (0 to 17) and holders of the Berlin Visit Pass: free of charge
- Audio-guide: free
- Guided tour (one hour): €90
- 3-days Museum Pass Berlin: €29 per person, €14.50 concessions;
- Berlin pass (3 days): €99 for adults, €74 for children. Includes visits to over 50 Berlin landmarks.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What languages are available in the museum?
Guided tours are available in German and English, but you can also hire a French audio guide.
Is a visit to the museum included in a pass?
You can visit the Bode Museum with various tourist passes:
What additional services does the museum offer?
The museum has toilets, a checkroom and a café.
Who can benefit from reduced rates?
Reduced rates are available for students, the unemployed and people with severe disabilities (50% or more), on presentation of proof. Admission is free for under-18s, those accompanying disabled visitors and school groups.