Pergamon Museum – The Most Visited Berlin Museum

Berlin Museum: Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Famous Museum Island:

Ishtar Gate from Babylon © Travel Signposts

The Pergamon Museum takes its name from the Pergamon Altar which takes pride of place in the Museum’s main hall.  Situated on Berlin’s famous Museum Island, the Pergamon Museum is the most visited Berlin museum.

The Pergamon Museum was designed by Alfred Messels, but he died before construction began in 1910.  His close friend Ludwig Hoffmann supervised the construction of the Pergamon, to Messels’ design, and the building was completed in 1930.

Pergamon’s Three Museums

Designed as a “Dreiflügelanlage”, a three-winged building, the Pergamon Museum today houses three separate museums:

• the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities), occupies the architectural halls and the sculpture wing
• the Vorderasiatisches Museum (The Middle East Museum) and
• the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum of Islamic Art).

Pergamon Altar and Gates

Apart from the priceless collections in each of these three museums, what has made the Pergamon Museum world-famous are its reconstruction of monumental archaeological building ensembles – such as the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the 6th century BC Ishtar Gate from Babylon including the Processional Way of Babylon, and the Facade of the Mshatta Palace.

There is a lot to see in the Pergamon and it’s not possible to cover it in one or two visits alone.  The Pergamon Altar is of course the main attraction in the Museum.  Dating back to the 2nd century BC, it was built on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor.

Under a Masterplan for the Museum Island, the Pergamon Museum is being expanded to make it the centre of the museum complex and it will be connected to the Neues Museum, the Bodemuseum and the Alte Nationalgalerie.

Opening Times:

The Pergamon Museum is open 7 days a week from 10:00 – 18:00 (up to 22:00 on Thursdays).

How to Get There:

If you’re walking along Unter den Linden, the Pergamon Museum is easily reached on foot.  The Pergamon is also easily accessible by public transport:  U-Bahn (U6 -Friedrichstraße);  S-Bahn (S1, S2, S25 – Friedrichstraße), (S5, S7, S75 – Hackescher Markt);  Tram  (M1, 12 – Am Kupfergraben),  (M4, M5, M6 – Hackescher Markt).

For more Berlin Info, see HERE.

Address:
Am Kupfergraben 5
10117 Berlin

Berlin Map:

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