Overview

Egyptian (including the beautiful portrait bust of Nefertiti), Trojan (some of Schliemann's finds at Hissarlik), Roman and German antiquities housed in a most unusual building. The original building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in WW2. English architect David Chipperfield designed a rebuilding which preserved some of the original, while inserting modern structures into the shell. He also ensured that the museum, which re-opened in 2009, is fully accessible.

Transport & Parking

Can't comment on the parking. Buses along Unter den Linden (100 or 200) will get you quite close, but tend to be crowded. The nearest bus stop is Lustgarten, about five minutes level wheel/walk. The nearest S-bahn station (accessible) is Hackescher Markt, which is about 10 minutes wheel/walk away, a route with quite a lot of cobbles & tramlines to cross and a steepish push up to the crown of the bridge over the Spree. The ticket office is (as of 2016) not in the museum but in the courtyard between the museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie.

Access

The wheelchair user was admitted for half price (€6) and her accompanist got in free. Shallow ramps lead up to the entrance and an efficient team of staff open the outer and inner doors for you. Once inside you will find wide circulating spaces, captions in English as well as German, and lifts to all levels. Clearer signage would help. Some areas are dimly lit to protect the exhibits, and partially-sighted visitors might find captions difficult to read. There are a few display cases which cannot be viewed by a wheelchair user.

Toilets

It is located on level 0, within the Ladies loo. And you need to ask the attendant to unlock it. She was very helpful. The loo is spacious, well-equipped with grab rails, alarm buttons and a wheelchair accessible washbasin. The auto flush may take you by surprise.

Staff

Ubiquitous, helpful and attentive.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

We enjoyed our visit as much for the architecture as for the exhibits. The plan of the museum (English language version available and free) is small and quite hard to read. Larger and more obvious signage for the lifts and the accessible loo would have helped. The Time Machine on floor 3 uses computer graphics to bring different phases of history to life and show some of the exhibits being used by their makers. The bust of Nefertiti is iconic and she has a room all to herself. The architect has done a brilliant job of blending the new with surviving sections and fragments of the original 19th century building.

Photos