Bode-Museum

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Bode-Museum was built between 1897 and 1904 on the northern tip of Museum Island to designs by court architect Ernst von Ihne. The three-winged building with its striking dome was placed right at the water's edge, so that it appears to rise straight out of the Spree. It opened in 1904 as the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. The exhibition concept came from Wilhelm von Bode, then director of the Gemäldegalerie and the Sculpture Collection and later director general of the Royal Museums: for the first time, painting, sculpture and decorative arts were to be shown side by side as equals, in rooms designed to evoke their respective periods.

Badly damaged in World War II, the building was restored step by step between 1948 and 1986 and renamed the Bode-Museum in 1956 in honor of its intellectual founder. After the reunification of the Berlin museums, it underwent a comprehensive renovation in line with modern museum and heritage-conservation standards; the museum has been fully open again since 2006.

Today it brings together the Sculpture Collection, the Museum of Byzantine Art and the Coin Cabinet (Münzkabinett), complemented by paintings from the Gemäldegalerie. The Sculpture Collection is one of the world's most important holdings of older sculpture, from the early Middle Ages to the late 18th century, with works by Donatello, Tilman Riemenschneider and Antonio Canova. The Byzantine museum presents late antique and Byzantine art from the 3rd to the 15th century. The Coin Cabinet holds more than half a million objects; around 4,000 coins and medals trace the history of money from the first coins struck in the 7th century BC to the euro.

Highlights

• Donatello: Pazzi Madonna
• Tilman Riemenschneider: Four Evangelists from the Münnerstadt Altarpiece
• Antonio Canova: Dancer
• Apse mosaic from Ravenna
• Coin Cabinet with around 4,000 coins and medals on display
• Great and Small Dome Halls, Basilica and the Merseburg Mirror Cabinet

Permanent exhibitions

• Skulptur und Malerei 13.–18. Jahrhundert – European sculpture from the Gothic period to Neoclassicism, shown together with paintings from the Gemäldegalerie.
• Spätantike und Byzantinische Kunst – Artworks of late antiquity and the Byzantine Empire from the 3rd to the 15th century, including the apse mosaic from Ravenna.
• Münzen und Medaillen – With around 4,000 objects, the Coin Cabinet tells the story of money and culture from antiquity to the present.

Founded

1904

Operated by

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Director

Antje Scherner (Direktorin der Skulpturensammlung und des Museums für Byzantinische Kunst)

Visitors per year

approx. 210,245 (2023)

Admission & discounts

Day tickets; online advance sales open four weeks ahead. Audio guide in German and English included in the ticket price. Museum Island ticket (area ticket): €24, reduced €12, valid for one day at all museums of the Staatliche Museen on Museum Island (Alte Nationalgalerie, Altes Museum, Bode-Museum, Neues Museum, Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama) as well as the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche and PETRI Berlin. Museum Pass Berlin (3 days, more than 30 museums): €32, reduced €16. Basic, Classic and Classic Plus annual passes. Free admission for groups including recipients of Bürgergeld (basic income support), housing benefit, basic social security or benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG), ICOM members and press.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to the Staatliche Museen, partially wheelchair-accessible. According to “Reisen für Alle,” the exhibition levels can be reached by elevator or platform lifts (including a stair lift to the Great Dome Hall and a vertical lift to the basement). Accessible restroom and baby changing table according to the floor plan. Loan wheelchairs available on request in advance from the info service (030 266424242, Mon–Fri 9:00–16:00). Only trained assistance dogs are allowed.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Baby changing facilities

Free “Schreib Kritzel Block” (write-and-doodle pad) for visitors aged 6 and up at the ticket desk; family festivals and activity days as well as programs from the lab.Bode education lab. Baby changing table according to the floor plan. Under the house rules of the Staatliche Museen, certain strollers may have to be swapped for strollers provided by the museum; children may not be carried in back carriers or on shoulders.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers
• Wi-Fi

Café im Bode-Museum (Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00) and Walther König bookstore (Tue–Sun 12:00–18:00). Cloakroom, lockers, Wi-Fi and workshop rooms according to the floor plan. Bags larger than 30 × 20 × 10 cm must be checked; travel luggage is not accepted. Lab.Bode education program and offerings for schools.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

Up to 300 guests.

Events outside opening hours via Museum&Location, the events company of the Staatliche Museen: standing receptions in the Great Dome Hall and on the balcony for up to 300 people, dinners in the Basilica for up to 150 people, meetings, conferences and concerts in the Gobelin Hall for up to 100 people.

Plan your visit