New museum district: Museums join forces

The Museum of Natural History and three other institutions plan to join forces to form the "MuseumsMeileMitte." (File photo)

Several museums in Berlin plan to join forces to form a new museum district.

In the future, the Natural History Museum, the Hamburger Bahnhof, the Futurium and the Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum at Charité form the "MuseumsMeileMitte" (German: Museum Mile Mitte), as the institutions announced. The launch will be celebrated on June 13 with a neighborhood festival. Admission to all four venues will be free on that day.

Museums located just a few minutes' walk from one another

The museums are located near Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Central Station), about a 10- to 15-minute walk from one another. According to the press release, the institutions already attract two million visitors to the area each year. In the future, there will be joint events and programs. Guided walking tours, for example, will allow visitors to discover lesser-known corners of the area around Invalidenstraße. Along the former Berlin Wall, "a neighborhood that actively shapes the city’s future" is emerging in collaboration with the local community, institutions, and businesses, announced Till Fellrath, director of the Hamburger Bahnhof. 

"Special potential" in connecting the neighborhood

"For a long time, the area was shaped by its location in the former border zone," the initiative writes on its website. This historical divide meant that urban life could develop only in isolated pockets. "To this day, the neighborhood appears fragmented and disconnected in places - and that is precisely where its unique potential lies."