The Pergamon Museum is one of Berlin’s grandest cultural institutions. Famed for its full-size reconstructions of monuments from ancient Rome and Greece, the museum also houses lots of Islamic art and work from the Middle East. The Pergamon’s main attraction is the Pergamon Altar, an enormous construction that dates back nearly 2,000 years and gives the museum its name.
If you plan on visiting the Pergamon, you might want to do so sooner rather than later. The celebrated archaeological museum has announced it’ll be closing as part of a €1.6 billion refurb project which will take 14 years. We know, 14 years!
While the Pergamon will initially be completely closed to the public, it will partially reopen over the next few years. The North Wing and the hall with the Pergamon Altar will apparently both reopen in spring 2027. Some collections will still be viewable at offshoot Das Panorama, which is just across the road, while other pieces will be loaned out to other museums.
The Pergamon’s closure was announced back in March, with the renovations being part of a wider plan to improve Berlin’s Museum Island district. The most significant part of the project will see the construction of an entire wing, which will link the Pergamon to other museums on Museum Island.
The good news is that, if you want to get in a visit to the Pergamon, you’ve got quite a bit of time to do so. It’s not set to close until October 23 of this year. Plus, the museum will have extended opening hours over the next few months to give people more time to feast their eyes on its treasures.
You can find out more about visiting the Pergamon here – then check out our guide to all the very best museums in Berlin.
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