There are more than 170 museums in Berlin. Many of them offer various possibilities to explore shows and exhibits online and learn more about the artists, the collections and the research behind it. Find inspiration for your next museum excursion online and discover the wide range of Berlin's cultural institutions. To help you get started in the world of digital museums, we have compiled a list of the numerous virtual entry portals. Many museums offer additional digital formats such as live tours via phone call, social media or video stream.
Humboldt Forum
The exhibitions at the Humboldt Forum are open. You can also discover some of them digitally, for example on the virtual tour that invites you to "360° world thinking". To this end, the New York urban artist duo How and Nosm have created a 375 square metre mural. In typical Berlin street art style, they focus on Berlin's connections with the world and critically examine historical episodes in Berlin's history, such as colonialism, looted art or environmental pollution. Of course you can also explore the other ten themed rooms of the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition online. They deal with revolution and war, open space and borders, pleasure, fashion and interweaving. The joint exhibition of Kulturprojekte Berlin and the Stadtmuseum Berlin will officially open its doors from 16 January.
Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
More than 6000 years of human history can be discovered on Berlin's Museum Island - even virtually. Under the motto 'Open 24/7', the National Museums in Berlin have now developed a comprehensive online offer. Here you can visit all 15 collections around the clock. In the blog "Museum and the City" you will find additional stories, interviews, picture galleries and information. Get to know the individual members of staff in a portrait and learn more about the different jobs in the museum sector. You can also immerse yourself in 360-degree and interactive guided tours and get insights into various special exhibitions on YouTube.
Currently, the National Museums in Berlin are offering you the opportunity to view the Collection of Classical Antiquities virtually, including an elaborate 3D scan of the Pergamon Altar and a 360° tour of the Altes Museum.
More about the individual museums
Virtual experiences
Google Arts & Culture takes you on a virtual tour of the five buildings. Learn more about history, architecture and explore the individual buildings and exhibits in 3D and panoramic images. Your virtual tour is partly supplemented with explanatory audio tracks. Once immersed in Google's virtual world, you can explore the art and cultural heritage of mankind worldwide.
Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten
Even if the weather is not necessarily suitable for a walk through the parks and gardens of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg, you can still enjoy their splendor. On YouTube, the gardeners take you on a tour of the palace gardens. But you can also discover the palaces themselves virtually on Instagram tours.
And here you can find some more information:
- Schloss Sanssouci
- Schloss Charlottenburg: Neuer Flügel und Mausoleum im Schlossgarten
- Schloss Schönhausen
- Pfaueninsel
- Jagdzeugmagazin am Jagdschloss Grunewald
You can also find the most beautiful collections of the Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten on Goolge Arts & Culture. These include the famous collection of paintings by Frederick the Great and a virtual tour of the picture gallery of Sanssouci. In addition, you will find TV documentaries, reports and YouTube videos that will take you to the magnificent gardens and castles. And if that's not enough, T-RECS even gives you an insight into scientific research.
More Berlin-Projects on Google Arts&Culture
- Kupferstichkabinett
- Bildgallerie Sanssouci
- DDR Museum
- Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin
- Gemäldegalerie
- Graffity Lobby Berlin
- Jüdisches Museum Berlin
- Stiftung Brandenburger Tor im Max Liebermann Haus
- Berliner Philharmoniker
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
My personal favorite feature on Google Arts & Cultur is the Art Selfie. Here you can see which famous portrait a photo of you most resembles.
More tips from Berlin's art and culture scene
- With the Judy Chicago Rainbow App on behalf of Light Art Space, a non-profit Berlin platform for art, science and new technologies, you can use the pyrotechnic artist's first virtual AR work to make the world in front of you disappear behind a smoke sculpture.
Jüdisches Museum Berlin (Jewish Museum Berlin)
The Jewish Museum Berlin is currently presenting video and photo projects in a digital showcase, which provide insights into the museum's subject area, but also open up completely new perspectives. They deal with faith and hope, myths and art theft, persecution and everyday life. There is also a wide range of activities for children. In "Mysticism to Minecraft", for example, you can find out more about the legend of the golem. Have a look.
Or you can download the new JMB app to your smartphone and explore the permanent exhibition in thematic tours on highlights, biographies, stories and Judaism. Or you can simply stroll virtually and head for the 100 stations that seem most interesting to you.
Stiftung Stadtmuseum
The Märkische Museum invites you to a virtual 3D tour of the current exhibition "Chaos and Departure". In addition, the Stadtmuseum presents the collection online, including individual digital exhibition areas for the "Berlin Zeit" exhibition, the Fontane Collection, and the photo documentation collected together with Berliners on the topic of "How Corona has changed our everyday lives". And you can take a virtual tour through the Nikolai Church.
On Spotify, the Stadtmuseum streams various audio-files on soundcloud, giving insights into historic events and historical personalities such as the personal physician of the Elector, Leonhard Thurneisser, who tells about the time of the plague. Maybe a bit macabre at the moment, but exciting. Sound off!
Archaeological journey through time at Molkenmarkt
Very close to the Nikolai Quarter is Berlin's oldest square, the Molkenmarkt. Here, where three important trade routes once met, the search is currently on for historical remnants of Berlin's medieval Old Town. After the excavation work has been completed, the Molkenmarkt is to be rebuilt in its historic structures. Until then, you can explore the excavation site on a 360-degree tour. Dr. Michael Malliaris, project manager of the excavation work and employed by the State Monuments Office, presents the individual excavation sites. He also answers questions about the project in short videos.
Berlinische Galerie
Who shaped Berlin's architecture in the 1980s - and how did the cityscape differ in East and West Berlin? This question will be explored in the exhibition "Anything Goes? Berlin Architectures of the 1980s," which will be shown at the Berlinischen Galerie starting in spring 2021. Currently, you can download an audio walk app and listen to the stories behind the buildings at their original locations. There are three routes to choose from, leading around the Berlinische Galerie, along Friedrichstraße and starting from the Admiralsbrücke through Kreuzberg. The guided audio walks last between 60 and 90 minutes and can be downloaded for free from the Berlinische Galerie website.
The Berlinische Galerie has already digitized around 40,000 works of the collection, which comprises 106,740 works of art and over 500,000 documents. In the online database you can get an overview and collect your favourites. Of course, the curators have already compiled the highlights of the collection for you. Furthermore, you can take a virtual tour through the rooms of the exhibition "Art in Berlin from 1880 -1980" by clicking and zooming into the individual pictures.
rbb macht Museum - The Berlinische Galerie - Director Thomas Köhler guides you through the collection. Eight highlights of early modern, classical modern and contemporary painting are presented: Anton von Werner, Hannah Höch, Otto Dix, Rudolf Schlichter, Werner Heldt, Fred Thieler, Georg Baselitz and Rainer Fetting.
Deutsches Historisches Museum
The German Historical Museum is presenting a current exhibition on the topic "From Luther to Twitter. Media and the Political Public". There will be video-conferences and on Friday, 20 November you can also book a public telephone tour on the topic. On the website you will find additional current offers, for example on the date of 9 November or on the women's movement. In the blog you will find a HisTutorial, which covers a wide range of topics from witch-hunting to the internet.
The exhibition "Report from Exile - Photographs by Fred Stein" (from reopening until June 20, 2021 in the Pei-Bau) you can already discover digitally from home. For the first time, the works of the German-American Jewish photographer (1909, Dresden - 1967, New York) are presented in their political-historical context in this exhibition of works. School classes and private groups can book a video conference or telephone tour.
LEMO – German History Online
This web presence of the Deutsche Historische Museum (German Historical Museum) is the oldest existing online portal that wants to make history digitally experienceable. You can travel through time from the Vormärz (1815) to the age of globalization (2001). Numerous videos, maps, statistics, historical photographs, contemporary witness reports, biographies and digitized original documents make the portal a real treasure trove, provide exciting insights into the history of Germany.
ABOUT BERLIN App
Check out our ABOUT BERLIN app. Follow in the footsteps of Elektropolis Berlin and find out what happened then and now in Berlin's impressive buildings of industrial architecture. You can listen to excerpts from historical diaries from the LeMO archive. You will also find background information on the fall of the wall, the November Revolution, but also on Jewish life in Berlin. If you would like to learn more about the historical background of Berlin, why not take one of our tours to discover Berlin, for example along the Wall Cycle Route, through Mitte and Tiergarten or around Moritzplatz.
The best way to use our app is of course to take a walk through Berlin. Explore the city safely and corona compliant on your own. Discover Berlin as a gallery for urban art or the learn more about the Industrial Heritage of the city. Of course you can also discover the city of freedom from your living room couch with ABOUT BERLIN. Learn more about the history and stories of our city. Numerous historical pictures, videos and mini audio books about the individual stories turn your virtual trip into a multimedia discovery tour.
- Download now for free for iPhone and Android.
Gropius-Bau
In a comprehensive digital guide, the Gropius Bau makes current and, in the archive, past exhibitions virtually accessible. Among them, the large Yayoi Kusama retrospective now made virtually accessible. As in the exhibition itself, you can follow the development of Kusama's work from the first paintings to her current experiential spaces and stroll through the 16 gigantic octopus arms via video.
You can also explore online the exhibition "Hella Jongerius: Weaving Cosmos" or the work of visual activist:in Zanele Muholi.
Tip: The Walter Gropius App guides you to the most important buildings and objects by Walter Gropius in Berlin. In addition to pictures, addresses, and short expert descriptions, you will find prepared tours through the settlements.
In the Gropius Bau Journal you can regularly discover new contributions by artists, writers and thinkers who deal with the role of the art institution in the 21st century.
Museum for Communication
How fitting that the Museum of Communication is currently dealing with digital change. You can experience the exhibition online via the museum's website and browse through the museum's digital collections. Have you had enough of all the virtuality? Then click your way to the digital collection of "Briefe ohne Unterschrift" ("Letters without a signature"). Here GDR history comes alive.
Museum of Natural History
The Museum of Natural History's collection includes 30 million objects, ranging from gigantic dinosaurs to the tiniest insects. Many exhibits can now be explored online. You can also learn about research, excavations and, of course, digital recording. In addition, there are exciting stories in the Beats&Bones podcast as well as interesting viral insights. All offers are summarized under the hashtag #fürNatur Digital.
Tip: In our visitBerlin Podcast Berlin Unboxed , Dr. Daniela Schwarz, paleontologist and curator at the Museum of Natural History, takes us into the world of dinosaur research.
Deutsches Spionagemuseum (German Spy Museum Berlin)
So, how good a spy are you? Although the German Espionage Museum (German Spy museum) is currently closed to the public, you can get some insights into the life of a spy - at least in theory. The blog of the German spy museum features various topics, including exciting stories about the capital of spies, modern techniques used by the secret services, current conspiracy theories, legends and historical moments from the Cold War era and beyond.
C/O Berlin
Why not take a look behind the scenes in November? Hear and see interviews with the artists. For the in-house YouTube channel, C/O Berlin has brought GDR photographer Harald Hauswald and Berghain doorman and photographer Sven Marquardt, among others, in front of the camera. A great way to immerse yourself in the Berlin art and culture world - at least online.
German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst
Online you can still visit the exhibition on 75 years of war in Europe. Under the title "From Casablanca to Karlshorst", the website of the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst offers virtual insights, including a 360-degree tour of the exhibition, pictures and information on the highlights as well as historical photographs from the time of the Second World War and the days after it. Here you can find the virtual insights.
German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst
DDR Museum (GDR Museum)
History comes alive in the GDR Museum (DDR Museum). Immerse yourself in the everyday life of the GDR and learn more about this part of German history. Learn more about the Stasi and the history of the Berlin Wall, at the moment of course online. For example, the museum's blog presents 10 things from the GDR home office (in German language only: 10 Dinge aus dem Homeoffice der DDR). In the civic education podcast (in German language only: Staatsbürgerkunde Podcast) you can listen to contemporary witnesses and children's songs from the GDR. In addition, socio-politically relevant topics such as equal rights or freedom of the arts are addressed.
Deutsches Technikmuseum (Museum of Technology)
The Museum of Technology is involved in two virtual projects at the same time, such as the first German hackathon for open cultural data. COD1NG DA V1NC1 shows what has already been created. In collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, 13 curated stories take you online into the world of technology. Learn more about how the steam engine works or the history of the market and mobility.
Bröhan-Museum
Art Nouveau on TikTok? Sure! In one-minute videos two young art historians explain the current exhibition of the Bröhan Museum: "Luigi Colani and Art Nouveau". Of course you can also visit the digital museum world of Bröhan via Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. On the video channel you can also learn more about the exhibition "The Proletarian View - 1920s Workers' Photography by Kurt Pfannschmidt, Ernst Thormann and Richard Woike" in 5-minute stories. A digital guide will also accompany you after the reopening in December with background information and videos of the exhibitions in the Bröhan Museum.
Click here to go to the Bröhan Museum collection on Google Arts & Culture.
Museum Barberini
The Barberini Museum offers you a whole range of opportunities to explore the Hasso Plattner Collection on Impressionism. In addition to daily online tours there is a special format for families every Sunday. In online lecture series, experts provide insights into special aspects of the collection. And in the media library you will find many other exciting formats, for adults as well as children.
Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin
Within the framework of a digital tour, museum director Dr. Josephine Gabler will accompany you through the special exhibition "100 Years of Greater Berlin - Käthe Kollwitz and the Misery of the Big City". In the second part she will guide you through the exhibition Käthe Kollwitz - Mother and Child with impressive drawings and compassionate sketches of mothers and their children.
rbb Culture Tips
With guided tours and 360-degree walks, rbb invites you to visit the most beautiful exhibitions in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. In addition, rbb shows you Berlin's museum world in 360° tours under the motto "Culture for the eyes and for the soul" (in German language only: “Kultur für die Augen und für die Seele”)
Culture for the eyes and for the soul
And more...
- further top exhibitions in Berlin.
- Listen to our visitBerlin Podcast Berlin Unboxed (in German langauge)
- against boredom: Find more Digital offers & Live-Streams
Here you can find important information about the Current situation in Berlin.
