Bode Museum

Located on Museum Island in Berlin, the Bode Museum houses the Sculpture Collection, Museum of Byzantine Art, and the Münzkabinett. Designed by Ernst von Ihne and opened in 1904, it features works from the early Middle Ages to the 18th century, including masterpieces by Donatello and Tilman Riemenschneider. The museum underwent extensive renovations from 1997 to 2006 to restore its historical architecture and update its galleries.

Planning your visit

The Bode Museum sits at the northern tip of Museum Island where the two arms of the Spree divide, and its domed neo-baroque bulk rises directly from the water like the prow of a ship — architecturally the most dramatic position of the five museums there. Ernst von Ihne completed it in 1904, and Wilhelm von Bode's original arrangement mixed sculpture, painting and decorative arts together rather than segregating them, an approach partly restored in the 1997-2006 renovation.

Three collections share the building. The Sculpture Collection runs from the early Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, with Donatello, Riemenschneider's limewood carving, and Italian Renaissance work of the first order. The Museum of Byzantine Art holds late antique and Byzantine material including sarcophagi, ivories and mosaics. The Münzkabinett is one of the world's largest coin collections, spanning the invention of coinage to the present.

It is consistently the quietest of the Museum Island institutions, which is an argument for visiting it rather than against.

Bookable options include skip-the-line tickets, and classical concerts held in the museum's basilica hall — an unusual way to see the space, with the sculpture as setting. Current availability is listed below.