Research library and museum at the Kulturforum with collections on graphic design, architecture, fashion, book art, and photography – display freely accessible.
May 16, 2025 – December 31, 2028
Freely accessible display about the once elegant residential quarter around the Matthäikirche, where collectors, gallerists, fashion people, and photographers lived a hundred years ago – until persecution from 1933 onward and wartime destruction wiped out this world.
November 27, 2026 – March 29, 2027
The exhibition at the Kulturforum traces the concept of the “bizarre” from the Renaissance to the present – with drawings and prints from the Kunstbibliothek and works from the Gemäldegalerie and the Kupferstichkabinett.
May 28, 2027 – September 12, 2027
Retrospective of Jonathan Meese's artist's books at the Kulturforum, from early school notebooks to large-format collage books, staged as a room-filling installation.
The Kunstbibliothek traces its origins to the Deutsches Gewerbe-Museum zu Berlin, founded in 1867, which included a library in addition to a teaching institution; the Staatliche Museen cite 1868 as the library's actual founding year. Its statutes already stipulated that it should collect not only books but also drawings and photographs of exemplary applied-arts works. Thus, alongside the specialist library, a large collection of models and patterns for crafts and applied art came into being.
A formative figure was Peter Jessen, director from 1886 to 1924. His tenure saw the takeover of the Lipperheide costume library, the acquisition of important architects' estates such as that of Joseph Maria Olbrich, and the separation from the Kunstgewerbemuseum, with which the library had moved into the new building on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße – today's Gropius Bau – in 1881.
During World War II the holdings were moved to safe storage. From 1947 the library was provisionally accessible again in Dahlem, and in 1954 it moved to Jebensstraße in Charlottenburg. Since 1994 its headquarters have been in the new building at the Kulturforum, shared with the Kupferstichkabinett. In 2004 the Museum für Fotografie was added as the exhibition venue for its photography collection, followed in 2012 by the Archäologische Bibliothek in the Archäologisches Zentrum. Today the Kunstbibliothek is one of the largest museum libraries in the world; its collections comprise more than one million objects on architecture, graphic design, fashion, book and media art, and photography. In the planned new building “berlin modern,” it is to receive its own exhibition space.
Admission is free.
| Reduced | –School students, trainees, university students, volunteer service participants, job seekers receiving ALG I (unemployment benefit), and people with severe disabilities (degree of disability 50 or higher) – 50% discount at paid special exhibitions |
|---|---|
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 17 · Free admission to paid special exhibitions for visitors under 18. |
| Seniors | –No senior discount. |
| Visitors with disabilities | –companion free · Concession from a degree of disability of 50 at paid special exhibitions; a necessary companion (noted on the ID) is admitted free. |
| Students & apprentices | –Concession at paid special exhibitions. |
| Museumspass Berlin (3 days) | €29reduced €14.50 (as stated on the Kunstbibliothek price page) |
The display in the Kunstbibliothek, the reading room, and the study room are free of charge. Special exhibitions of the Kunstbibliothek at the Kulturforum (e.g., “Bizarr”) charge admission; prices are set per exhibition and had not yet been announced. Free admission also for, among others, recipients of Bürgergeld, housing benefit, and basic income support, ICOM and Museumsbund members, the press, and holders of SMB annual passes.
According to the SMB, all Kunstbibliothek locations are fully wheelchair-accessible.
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 17 |
|---|
Workshops for families and children aged 6 to 12, as well as multi-day holiday workshops for children aged 9 to 12.
U2 and S-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz; bus to Potsdamer Brücke, Potsdamer Platz Bhf / Voßstraße, Kulturforum, or Philharmonie.
The Staatliche Museen recommend arriving by public transport or bicycle.
Get directionsCafé am Kulturforum on the upper level of the foyer; Walther König bookshop at the Kulturforum (Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00).
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Visitor entrance via the Kulturforum foyer (Johanna-und-Eduard-Arnhold-Platz / Matthäikirchplatz). Talk series “Nah dran!” in front of originals, lectures “Kunstgeschichte(n) des Tiergartenviertels” on selected Sundays at 11:15, as well as a book salon and fashion lectures. Exhibitions of the photography collection are held at the Museum für Fotografie (separate entry). SMB info service Mon–Fri 9:00–16:00. |
Cookies help you use this website. We only load the map and statistics with your consent.
