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Pergamonmuseum
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
Am Kupfergraben 510117 Berlin
Neighbourhood: Mitte
030 20905577
- Hours:
Mon-Wed, Fri-Sun 10 am - 6 pm
Thu 6 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
19 reviews for Pergamonmuseum
11 reviews in English
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Review from Tara M.
11/22/2011
OMG IS THAT A GIANT TEMPLE INSIDE A BUILDING?
Why yes, yes it is.
OMG IS THAT THE BABYLON GATE?
Well its the smallest one. But look! It has ancient graffiti on one side! Cool!
If you enjoy the classical era, this museum is for you. It houses some of the most impressive restorations in the world. I feel like I could sit on the steps of the Ishtar Tor, read and sip a latte. The presentation envelops you.
Although controversial in the art world, I am glad Berlin has these collections. Check out the guided audio tour. It's worth listening into that giant cell phone, you'll learn a lot too. :-) -
Review from Kazuma K.
2/22/2012
I thought it was OK. Maybe it was just too crowded and it was 100 degrees and a humidity level of 500%! The reconstructions looked kind of fake, the ceiling above the giant temple near the entrance was messy... Don't go on weekends. I prefer the German History Museum, but Pergamon is cool too because it's on a friggin' Museum Island. Right now there's some weird 360 degree of Ancient Rome exhibit that blocks the front of the museum, looks like it's under construction but it's not.
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Review from John S.
12/31/2010
I won't even begin to try to write this review in German, but I wish I still could. In any case, there used to be a server named Ann at the restaurant where I worked when I was in high school. (Actually, there was an Ann and an Anne. I'm referring to Ann.) She was a little bit older than me, but when I think back about it, she was probably eighteen while I was sixteen-and-a-half, but you know how big age differences seem when you're young. Or maybe you don't. Anyway, I always had a pseudo-crush on Ann, but that was all right because she had this really mature, cool-seeming boyfriend who was in college, if I remember correctly. When you're sixteen and don't have much experience with girls and are basically the youngest person working in a hyper-drama-filled place of employment, you tend to like and get along with the already-taken girls because they're nice and safe.
To make this story stranger, I'll add that I was part of a German exchange program in high school. First, the Germans came to California in the winter and/or spring of 1994, and then we returned the favor that summer. It was an exhausting, strange, fun, and overwhelming experience. It gave me plenty of material for my writing for years to come, and it taught me a lot about how little I knew about myself. That was all right.
One of the museums we visited in Berlin was the Pergamon Museum, and this is where Ann comes in. Or where she will come in. Or where she would have come in if I had set this story up appropriately. Most of the other Americans were sick of museums at this point, so they just wanted to do the quick walk through. Some of the Germans were more interested (they were from Hamburg, not Berlin), but I wasn't about to tag along with a group of people speaking too fast for me. So I rented one of those audio-tour things in English and began.
The tour itself started well. It went a little bit slowly, but that's all right because I tend to linger a lot in museums. But then one of the Germans asked me a question, and I didn't pause the tape at the right point, and when I started listening again, I had missed a direction. But I didn't know I had missed a direction. I eventually realized a while later that I was in the completely wrong room and hadn't even been looking at what I was supposed to be looking at. I tried rewinding a little bit but then just gave up and found some of my friends at the Pergamon Altar, which is breathtaking.
I thought at the time it was weird that pieces of this thing hadn't been returned to the country of origin. But I also know it was a sort of reconstruction, and then I started to think about how they would possibly be able to disassemble something this large. It's really massive, and the museum gets an entire extra star for the troubling presence of the altar.
What about Ann? Well, while attending an all-staff meeting at work later that summer, I saw her for the first time in maybe five months. She looked more mature for some reason, and I wasn't sure whether she would remember all the joking around we had done the summer before. She came right up to me, gave me a hug, and told me she had missed me. I kind of just stood there, and when she asked me where I'd been all summer, I told her about Germany. I didn't mention the Pergamon Museum or even that we had visited Berlin, but she instantly said that she had been to Germany as well and had seen this amazing museum with a gigantic altar reconstructed right in the building. I told her I had seen it, and then she said she had gotten lost while listening to the audio tour.
If I had been savvier, I would have continued exchanging pleasantries until the meeting began, and then afterward, I would have talked to her more. Then I would have called her the next day and set up some kind of time to meet. But I was still a shy seventeen-year-old, so I just stood there, and she said it was good to see me, gave me another big hug, and sat down with her friends. After the meeting, her boyfriend picked her up in his souped-up Honda Civic, and I was a little bit sad for the rest of the summer. I don't know whether I ever worked a shift with her again. -
Review from Robert K.
7/24/2011
Just like Goldilock's proverbial 3rd bowl of porridge, this museum is just right!
I love its size, layout, mixture of large items that awe and the select number of small items that fascinate and intrigue. Too many museums pack their walls from floor to ceiling with items such that it becomes overwhelming to take in. The Pergamon vast space and select exhibits lets you take in the piece and feel as if you are "there" and not just a latter day spectator.
The Pergamon Alter was amazing, and the Market Gate, Assyrian Palace, and Ishtar Gate from ancient Babylon were all showstoppers. These grand items are truly unique and so cool to see that you get lost in their humongous scope and beauty.
Once you're done with these jaw droppers, you can move on to see a nice variety of incredible mosaics, fine statuary, and gorgeous friezes.
A Berlin must-see! -
Review from Ben M.
4/16/2011 5 photos
This museum is about as good as it gets as far as an ancient history museum is concerned.
When you walk in you blasted with huge pillars and ornate carvings of the gods doing battle. As you progress throughout this HUGE museum you see carvings, statues spanning multiple ages, cultures and regions.
The audio companion and half a day is a must to fully experience this place. Best part is, it's part of the museum package, so if you are planning on seeing a bunch of places it is a great value. In my opinion it's hands down the best museum on 'museum island'. -
Review from Aspasia s.
9/25/2010
I was so irresponsible to only budget an afternoon in Berlin's museum island. The nightlife captivated me while the Altes Museum hypnotized my hungry mind and soul.
It was a gray and rainy afternoon in autumn, against all of nature's odds - rain, muddy grounds and long walks I finally made it to the Pergamonmuseum. I was flabbergasted.
It was a symphony curated to stimulate each fiber of a thinker's mind - it was an orgasm of an intellectual nature. The reproductions and some "stolen" artifacts were amazing. The Greek section was immense, while I was in the zone in bewilderment to see the vast collection of Ottoman art.
It was because of the Pergamonmuseum that I promised myself that Turkey, Istanbul - in particular - was my next trip.
Since then, I have been to Istanbul, not once, but twice.
This is a museum that has definitely sparked many fires in this passionate thinker's heart and soul.Listed in: food for the intellect
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Review from Jim B.
10/25/2010
UNESCO World Heritage Site. An entire island of museums.
This one: Pretty awesome. A building designed to hold and display chunks of other buildings. Yep. Win.
Reconstructed Roman market gate? Check.
A chunk of a palace from Assyria? Check.
Amazing prayer niches from various Islamic lands? Check.
Reconstructed Greek temple and altar bits? Check.
Reconstructed gates of BABYLON? Oh yes, Check MATE.
Plus a lot fo galleries with smaller bits and pieces of ancient civilizations. I admit I was pretty tired that day and after a while my brain gave up trying to process it all. Go fresh and full of empty brain space.
Bonus: Easy to access bathrooms and no one standing there weaseling 50 cents out of you to pee. Epic win IMO. Plus: A damned cool gift shop in the courtyard. -
Review from Lauren R.
12/11/2010
I lived in Berlin for months, and this was by far my favorite thing I did while there.
The processional gate into Baylon, the market gate and of course the Pergamon Altar were just breathtaking. The audio guides (in tons of languages) are included in the price of admission, and you get to set the pace of your tour by choosing the number of the thing you're looking at.
I think you could spend an entire day standing small next to so many large and life altering artifacts. You learn so much about history and incredible civilizations that came before us. A must see. -
Review from Mike B.
8/10/2010
try as hard as I did, but I didn't see anything about Gozer the Gozerian in the ancient Middle East section here. someone should alert the Ghostbusters.
Berlin has a small island devoted to museums. how cool is that?
the Pergamon showcases art, architecture, statues, and other artifacts from the ages. it's actually split into 3 subdivision museums:
- ancient Greece and Rome
- ancient Middle East (Babylonian, Sumerian, Assyrian)
- classical Islamic art (Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Muslim Spain, Mughal India)
I would recommend you set aside at least 2 hours for this museum and strap on a good pair of shoes - there is a lot of stuff on display and plenty of photo opportunities, and it's a very popular museum, so whether you go early or late won't really matter too much, there'll be a crowd. luckily, there are plenty of little seating areas.
I particularly liked the recreated Roman villa courtyard with statues, fountains, and a reflecting pool. the Ishtar Gate and the Pergamon Altar are both ginormous.
admission is 8 Euro, less with a discount. once a week (Thursdays) it's free.Listed in: Berlin & Munich
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Review from Rebecca L.
11/9/2010
Aside from the fact that it's consistently a bajillion degrees in here, overcrowded and stuffy, ya just can't miss it.
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Review from Tony J.
11/16/2010
Great museum
Read more reviews for this business:
German (8)
