New museums in Berlin
The historic centre of Berlin has been undergoing rapid change since 2020
Berlin's historic centre is ultra-modern! Around the Museum Island and the Humboldt Forum, in the 2020s experience spaces are being created for first-class art exhibitions, for culture and science, for lingering in between. New excavations are revealing exciting aspects of the city's development.
Berlin's international appeal: The museums and memorials in the cultural centre
The children's museum ANOHA, the children's world of the Jewish Museum Berlin, has been delighting not only young guests but also every architecture lover for four years:in: The centrepiece is a giant wooden Noah's Ark with 150 animal sculptures, which can be "played on" and climbed on as desired.
The ensemble of Berlin memorials and memorial sites has also been enriched in a special way: In the heart of the capital at Anhalter Bahnhof, the Documentation Centre Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation opened in 2021 with library and site archive - a unique place where the problems of expulsion, flight and forced migration can be experienced - a challenging current topic today as it was then.
A world-famous museum has been open to the public again for a few years now following a thorough renovation: The Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin at the Kulturforum, an architectural icon designed by the famous architect Mies van der Rohe in 1968. What makes it so special: The careful restoration followed the principle of "as much Mies van der Rohe as possible" and has hardly changed the extraordinary spatial effect.
The berlin modern, a new museum at the Kulturforum, is under construction in the immediate neighbourhood. From 2028, it will present first-class art from the 20th century on around 9,000 square metres.
In 2022, the new cultural centre celebrated a top-class museum opening on the boulevard Unter den Linden: The new Stabi Kulturwerk presents unique exhibits of book art in permanent and temporary exhibitions.
For all Japan fans: In Auguststraße, the new Samurai Museum Berlin has been inviting visitors to see the masterfully forged armour, swords and masks of Japanese samurai warriors for three years. It is the largest collection of original exhibits outside of Japan.
The centrepiece: The Humboldt Forum
The large Humboldt Forum is actually representative of the dynamic development of the entire historical centre of Berlin: it is ultra-modern! Hidden behind its baroque palace façades are highly functional exhibition and event halls, art collections and ideas workshops.
The spacious interior of the new forum presents various exhibitions on the history of the city and exciting topics relating to art, society and research. In addition, the famous Ethnological Collections and the Museum of Asian Art on the upper floors.
Wide seating steps by the water
In front of the Humboldt Forum, a Freitreppe, a wide seating step system on the Spree Canal, is currently being built on the Schlossfreiheit.
Directly opposite: the world-famous Museum Island
Opposite the Humboldt Forum, visit the world-famous Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary for a whole five years this year - with exciting special exhibitions, events and concerts. The highlight of the anniversary will be the partial reopening of the Pergamon Museum in 2027, when the biggest crowd-puller will be on display again: the Pergamon Altar.
more to 200 years of Museum Island
By the way: In front of Museum Island and Humboldt Forum, a special one opened in 2021, underground station covered with an artistic starry sky: The station Museum Island of the U-Bahn line 5. This now connects important cultural highlights in Berlin.
The historic armoury of the Deutsches Historisches Museum opposite Unter den Linden is currently undergoing major refurbishment and will present a new permanent exhibition in future.
Exciting: The Hohenzollern crypt of the Berlin Cathedral, one of the most important dynastic burial grounds in Europe, which houses 91 unique coffins and magnificent sarcophagi, will be accessible again in spring 2026: expanded and with a new digital concept.
In November 2024 there has been a grand reopening on Bebelplatz: The Sankt Hedwigs-Kathedrale, a favourite destination for many Berlin visitors, has been renovated and refurbished in recent years and shines in new splendour - rebuilt for the future and designed for everyone.
In spring 2025, the famous Gendarmenmarkt in Mitte was reopened to the public: it was renovated for several years and made fit for the future. An underground network of pipes, barrier-free historic paving and a sustainable new rainwater drainage system now ensure that a visit to one of Berlin's most beautiful squares is once again a pleasure for everyone.
Exciting insights into the early urban development of Berlin
A short walk further on is Petriplatz - one of the oldest squares in Berlin. PETRI Berlin opened here in early summer 2025, the city's new multi-storey archaeological visitor centre. It is not only an exhibition venue, but also an authentic workplace for Berlin's archaeologists.
Archaeological windows are visible under the PETRI, offering an insight into the city's early history.
The excavations at Molkenmarkt also offer exciting perspectives on early urban development in Berlin: the nearby Molkenmarkt has been a consistently important centre of Berlin since the city was founded in the Middle Ages, today overlaid by wide traffic arteries and squares. Before its future redevelopment, archaeological traces of 800 years of urban development have been unearthed in recent years and made visible to interested parties in guided tours on site.
Art on the go
In the cultural centre of Berlin, distances are short. Turn your walk into an experience by paying attention to the historical and modern sculptures and monuments along the way. Take a look at our new compilation Berlin, capital of sculptures!
A current overview of the cultural highlights in Berlin 2025 can be found on our website.
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