Royal Berlin: Museum Island & the Forum Fridericianum
Berlin, Germany
On this walk through Berlin’s river island, you’ll see how the Hohenzollern rulers turned it into a showcase of Prussian ambition, with palaces and museums built to display great collections. The route passes the Bode Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, the resurrected Neues Museum, Berlin Cathedral, and the rebuilt Berlin Palace, now the Humboldt Forum. It also tells the story of the island’s near-destruction in the 20th century and its painstaking reconstruction.
The stops
- 01 Ebertsbrücke - view of the Bode Museum
Ebertsbrücke is a plain steel road bridge over the Spree at the northern tip of Museum Island, offering the classic view of the Bode Museum's domed prow.
- 02 Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery)
The Alte Nationalgalerie is a Neoclassical temple-form gallery on Museum Island, built 1862-1876 to house German nineteenth-century painting.
- 03 Neues Museum (New Museum)
The Neues Museum on Museum Island houses the Egyptian Museum and papyrus collection, famously home to the bust of Nefertiti.
- 04 Berlin Cathedral
The Berliner Dom is a large Protestant cathedral on Museum Island, built 1894-1905 as the Hohenzollern dynasty's court church and burial place.
- 05 Altes Museum (Old Museum) & the Lustgarten
The Altes Museum is a Neoclassical building by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, completed in 1830 as the oldest public museum on Museum Island, fronted by the Lustgarten.
- 06 James Simon Gallery
The James-Simon-Galerie, opened in 2019, is the David Chipperfield-designed central visitor entrance to Museum Island, named for the philanthropist James Simon.
- 07 Neue Wache - Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny
The Neue Wache is a small Doric memorial building on Unter den Linden, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and completed in 1818, now Germany's central memorial to victims of war and tyranny.
- 08 Bebelplatz - Berlin State Opera & Book Burning Memorial
Bebelplatz is a public square on Unter den Linden laid out by Frederick the Great in the 1740s, site of the Berlin State Opera and the 1933 Nazi book burning memorial.
- 09 St. Hedwig's Cathedral
Saint Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral, built 1747-1773 to a design modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, dedicated to Saint Hedwig of Silesia.
- 10 Crown Prince's Palace (Kronprinzenpalais) & German History Museum
The Kronprinzenpalais on Unter den Linden is a former Hohenzollern royal residence, remodelled in 1857, facing the Zeughaus which now houses the German Historical Museum.
- 11 Berlin Palace - Humboldt Forum
The Berlin Palace, rebuilt 2013-2020 and opened in 2021 as the Humboldt Forum, occupies the site of the former Hohenzollern royal residence on Museum Island.
The narration at every stop is in the app — this is the map of where it takes you, with a line on each stop.
More walks in Berlin
Walk Royal Berlin: Museum Island & the Forum Fridericianum with a voice in your ear.
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