Altes Museum

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  People enjoying the sun in the Lustgarten in front of the Altes Museum.

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  Tourists stand in front of the Altes Museum in Berlin.

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  Magnificent Apulian vases from Italy stand behind glass in the collection of antiquities in the Altes Museum.

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  A young man takes photographs during the Long Night of Museums at the Altes Museum in Berlin.

The magnificent neoclassical building of the Altes Museum houses part of the collection of antiquities of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Classical antiquity is the central theme of the Altes Museum (Old Museum). Among the exhibits are paintings, vases, sculptures and relics from ancient Greece, Etruscan Italy and the Roman Empire. While the main floor of the Altes Museum is dedicated to Greek antiquity, the upper floor displays works of art and archaeological evidence from Italy. Other parts of the antiquities collection are on display in the Pergamon Museum (ancient architecture) and the Neues Museum (Cyprus and Roman provinces in antiquity).

Ancient works of art in classicist architecture

The Altes Museum building was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and completed in 1830. Following the style of German classicism, the architecture is strongly inspired by Greek antiquity. Characteristic are the 18 fluted columns that line the entrance hall in a monumental arrangement. Visitors are greeted on the flight of steps by the two equestrian statues “Amazon on Horseback” (August Kiß, 1842) and “Lion Fighter” (Albert Wolff, 1861)

Highlights of the Altes Museum

Particularly popular with visitors are the portraits of Gaius Iulius Ceaser (ca. 1 century BC - 1 century AD) and Cleopatra (50 - 38 BC). Other highlights include the statue of the Goddess of Taranto (475 - 450 BC) and the “Berlin Goddess” (around 600 BC). Visitors will also find the largest collection of Etruscan art outside of Italy on the upper floor - the house-shaped urn from Chiusi in particular bears witness to the Etruscan way of life.

Architecture of the Altes Museum

The rectangular building complex surrounds two inner courtyards and a central domed space, the rotunda, which encompasses both storeys and whose block-like outer shell towers over the entire building. Towards the Lustgarten, the south side, which is unsuitable for illuminating the paintings anyway, opens up across its entire width to form an Ionic portico. Behind the wide open staircase, it expands in five axes into the depths, where two staircases on either side of the entrance lead to the upper floor.

Altes Museum: Current events and tickets

Address, Opening Hours and Contact Information

• Address:
  Am Lustgarten 1
  10178 Berlin
  City map
• Phone: [phone]
• Internet: www.smb.museum
• Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday closed
• Accessibility: Fully wheelchair accessible.
• Admission Fee:
  €14, concessions €7
• Tickets: Book tickets now »