Top exhibitions in Berlin 2024/2025
Must see: Highlights of Berlin’s museums and exhibition venues
The art metropolis of Berlin is an international exhibition venue, whether contemporary art, classical modernism or antiquity, whether photo exhibitions, installations, painting or sculpture. You can see world-class art exhibitions in Berlin's museums and exhibition centres. Here is our selection of current and upcoming exhibitions:
CURRENT
Blown Away: the Palace of the Republic
Exactly where the Humboldt Forum stands today, once stood the "People's Palace" of the GDR, a political centre and place of representation, but also of entertainment. The tasks, functions, impact and, of course, memories are brought to life on 1,400 square metres at the authentic site.
When: until 16 February 2025
Where: Humboldt Forum, Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin
Planet Africa. An archaeological journey through time
Africa is the continent where the history of mankind began. Planet Africa is a large, unique exhibition that will be shown in several cities in Germany, Ghana, Kenya and the Kingdom of Eswatini. It takes a look at African archaeology and presents findings and research results from two million years of human history free of charge.
When: until 27 April 2025
Where: James-Simon-Galerie, Bodestraße, 10178 Berlin
Dream on - Berlin, the 90s
The Berlin Wall stands for 28 years! An iron curtain, a physical border. When the Wall fell, Berlin was suddenly faced with a huge challenge: on the one hand, the climate was characterised by political awakening and enthusiasm, on the other by fears, social inequality and questions of belonging. Seven East German photographers founded the photo agency OSTKREUZ and created a unique documentary work of this time, which will be shown as part of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Wall .
When: until 23 January 2025
Where: C/O Berlin, Amerika-Haus, Hardenbergstraße 22-24, 10623 Berlin
Dinosaurs! Age of the giant lizards
At eye level with predatory dinosaurs: right at the beginning you will see three spectacular original predatory dinosaur skulls, including the rare find of a young T-Rex. Experience the public's favourite Tristan, the pitch-black original skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
When: Special exhibition until further notice
Where: Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin
Evil flowers
The poems "Les fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil)" by Charles Baudelaire made scandalous waves in Paris in 1857 and are world-famous today. The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection has come up with a great exhibition idea to bring together paintings and drawings, graphics, film and photography by renowned artists who were inspired by the Flowers of Evil, by the themes of eroticism, excess, intoxication and decay. Around 120 works will be presented, including 13 gigantic black silk flowers by light artist Otto Piene from 1969, which will bloom every hour in the darkened exhibition hall with thunder and lightning.
When: until 4 May 2025
Where: Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, Schloßstraße 70, 14059 Berlin
Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society
The Neue Nationalgalerie's new collection presentation on art after 1945 documents a time of turmoil: the post-war years, the Cold War, social upheaval and the fall of the Berlin Wall. See masterful artistic positions from the Federal Republic and the GDR, from Western Europe and the USA as well as from the former socialist states.
When: until 28 September 2025
Where: Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Straße 50, 10785 Berlin
Stadtbad RELOADED: AMBILIGHT
Lost Place meets Digital Art - explore a 96-year-old swimming pool with over 150 digital works of art and a 63,000 LED light installation. An unforgettable adventure for young and old. Average length of stay: 90 minutes.
Monet and the Impressionist Cityscape
It is a remarkably small exhibition, but an exciting one: in 1867, Claude Monet discovered the vibrant city as a subject and painted his first three views of Paris. From then on, the ‘city’ motif developed in Impressionist art, culminating in the paintings of Henri Matisse. The Alte Nationalgalerie has now been able to bring together the three paintings by Claude Monet and 17 other Impressionist city views in a high-calibre presentation.
When: until 26 January 2025
Where: Old National Gallery, Bodestraße, 10178 Berlin
Tip: See also the exhibition The Other Impressionism in the Kupferstichkabinett!
Berlin, Berlin. 20 years of the Helmut Newton Foundation
The Helmut Newton Foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary! And the exhibition title already reveals what the group exhibition at the Museum of Photography is showing: first-class photographic art by many famous photographers such as Helmut Newton and Barbara Klemm, which convey the artists' view of Berlin. In the anniversary year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Berlin Wall is naturally also a central recurring theme.
When: until 16 February 2025
Where: Museum für Fotografie, Jebensstraße 2, 10623 Berlin
Pergamon Museum. The panorama
The Pergamon Museum on Museum Island is closed. But the 360° staging by Yadegar Asisi in a unique collaboration with the Collection of Classical Antiquities allows visitors to experience the Pergamon Altar in its original form on the Acropolis: with around 80 of the most important works from Pergamon - including the largest part of the Telephos frieze from the Pergamon Altar and the "Beautiful Head", the colossal head of Heracles.
When: Permanent exhibition
Where: Temporary exhibition building, Am Kupfergraben 2, 10117 Berlin
IKONO Berlin: endless fun and creativity
Explore the city’s newest immersive experience in Alexanderplatz. At IKONO, art, play and the unexpected combine to offer visitors an unforgettable adventure filled with self-discovery, interactivity, and joy throughout its 14 immersive rooms.
ON VIEW
From Odesa to Berlin
The first-class Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa is currently under serious threat from the war in Ukraine. Of the countless works of art, 60 masterpieces of European art from the 16th to 19th centuries are now being brought out of the country and to Berlin to protect them from the destruction of war, where they will enter into dialogue with paintings from the Berlin collections in a major special exhibition. Visit this exciting, magnificent project!
When: 24 January to 22 June 2025
Where: Gemäldegalerie, Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz 4, 10785 Berlin
Art highlight 2025: two Kandinsky exhibitions in Berlin and Potsdam
8 February to 10 May 2025. May 2025: Kosmos Kandinsky. Geometric Abstraction in the 20th Century at the Museum Barberini
27 February to 15 June 2025. June 2025: Kosmos Blauer Reiter. From Kandinsky to Campendonk in the Kupferstichkabinett
Two first-class exhibitions at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin and the Museum Barberini in Potsdam will present important works by Wassily Kandinsky and the world's most famous artists almost simultaneously from February 2025:Inside Expressionism. In the Potsdam exhibition, you can follow the development of abstract painting in the 20th century over six decades and see around 100 works by the most renowned artists, including numerous international loans. In the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, watercolours, drawings and prints by the Blauer Reiter network of artists will inspire you. In addition to Kandinsky, you will see art by Klee, Marc, Heckel, Kirchner, Nolde, Pechstein, Delauny, von Jawlensky and many more.
When: Kosmos Kandinsky, 8 February to 10 May 2025
Where: Museum Barberini, Humboldtstraße 5-6, 14467 Potsdam
When: Kosmos Blauer Reiter, 27. February to 15. June 2025
Where: Kupferstichkabinett, Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin
EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography
March 2025 is all about the largest biennial festival of photographic images in Germany. Museums and exhibition venues, memorials, cultural institutes and art academies will present the works of young and established photo artists and offer an extensive accompanying programme. In view of the dangerous and threatening political situation in the world, the leitmotif for 2025 is "what stands between us".
When:1 to 31 March 2025
Where: various art and culture venues in Berlin
YOKO ONO - Music of the Mind
The world-famous Japanese artist and activist Yoko Ono is coming to Berlin: The Gropius Bau is dedicating a large solo exhibition to her with more than 200 exhibits, such as films, photographs, music, scores and installations. Organised by Tate Modern in London, the exhibition gives you a great impression of the radicality of Ono's work in terms of language, participation and art, which continues to have an impact today.
When: 11 April to 31 August 2025
Where: Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin
Raoul Hausmann. 1886 - 1971
Raoul Hausmann stands for the courageous avant-garde of classical modernism, his groundbreaking innovations had a considerable influence on subsequent generations of artists. As one of the first artists to work in multimedia, co-founder of Dada, photographer, author and poet, Hausmann is being given a comprehensive retrospective with around 200 works from national and international collections.
When: 7 November 2025 to 16 March 2026
Where: Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstraße 124-128, 10969 Berlin
Take a look ahead to next year: in Berlin 2025 you will find the most important highlights.
