Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität Berlin
One of the world's oldest architecture collections, with drawings, plans and photographs – gallery closed until early 2027 for facade renovation.
About the museum
The Architekturmuseum was founded in 1885/86 at what was then the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg to expand the teaching collections already there – including the Schinkel Museum, plaster casts and models of medieval buildings – with the drawn estates of Schinkel's students. By around 1900 the display and study collection already comprised some 20,000 drawings by almost 300 architects. In the 1920s it became a widely noted forum for exhibitions of contemporary architecture, for example on Hans Poelzig or Le Corbusier.
Due to lack of space, the holdings were moved out in 1932 and thereafter managed as an architecture archive. During World War II all the building models and the finding aids were lost, and important estates have been missing ever since. From the 1950s the depleted collection was accessible again as the plan collection of the architecture faculty; since 1972 it has been part of the university library.
Since then the holdings have grown many times over and are being gradually digitized; a large share of the digitized items is freely available online. Since 2005 the museum has shown studio exhibitions from its own holdings and guest projects in its own gallery in the basement of the Scharoun wing on Ernst-Reuter-Platz, and in 2006 it regained its historical name. Due to repairs to the facade of the Scharoun building, no exhibitions have been held since March 2024.
Highlights
- One of the oldest architecture collections in the world (founded 1885/86)
- Drawings by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and his students
- Online collection of more than 160,000 digitized sheets, most of them free to use
- Changing studio exhibitions in the gallery on Ernst-Reuter-Platz
- Founded
- 1885
- Operated by
- Technische Universität Berlin, Universitätsbibliothek
- Director
- Hans-Dieter Nägelke
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Free admission (according to berlin.de).
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Ernst-Reuter-Platz
U2 to Ernst-Reuter-Platz; bus M45, 245, X9 to Ernst-Reuter-Platz; S-Bahn to Zoologischer Garten or Tiergarten (S5, S7, S75, S9).
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Plan your visit
| Good to know | The gallery is in the basement of the Scharoun wing (low-rise building) of the architecture building on Ernst-Reuter-Platz, room A K176. Exhibitions are not held continuously and sometimes take place at other venues – check the website before visiting. |
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