The Humboldt Forum occupies the rebuilt Berlin Palace on Schloßplatz, opposite Museum Island. Behind three Baroque façades rebuilt as they were and a contemporary façade facing the Spree, designed by the Italian architect Franco Stella, it brings together the Ethnological Museum (Ethnologisches Museum), the Museum of Asian Art (Museum für Asiatische Kunst) and the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition about the city. It is open Wednesday to Monday from 10:30am to 6:30pm and closed on Tuesday; the ethnological and Asian collections cost €9, as does BERLIN GLOBAL, and several spaces on the ground floor and in the basement are free. The Hohenzollern palace, damaged in the war, was blown up in 1950 by the GDR, which built the Palace of the Republic in its place, itself demolished in the early 2000s. The current building opened its exhibitions in 2021. Allow half a day for the museums, and an hour for the free spaces and the terrace.
Highlights
The façades and the dome
On the Lustgarten and Schloßplatz sides, the palace's Baroque façades have regained their columns and sculptures, and the dome once again towers over the end of Unter den Linden. On the Spree side, the plain, grid-like east façade is openly modern. From the riverbank you see the palace and [Berlin Cathedral](/fr/attractions/cathedrale-de-berlin) at a single glance.
The Schlüterhof
The large inner courtyard is named after Andreas Schlüter, the palace's Baroque architect, whose façades have been rebuilt here. You can walk through it without a ticket, and it has a café terrace in fine weather: a good place to take in the façades before heading into the museums.
The boats of Oceania
The Ethnological Museum devotes a large hall to the peoples of the Pacific, with canoes from Micronesia and the boat from the island of Luf (Bismarck Archipelago, now Papua New Guinea). About 130 years old, it is the last of its kind; acquired in 1903 by a trading company in the colonial era, it illustrates the provenance questions the museum discusses in its galleries.
The art of the Silk Road
On the 3rd floor, under a large white dome, the Museum of Asian Art recreates the "Cave of the Sixteen Sword-Bearers" from Kizil (Xinjiang, China), with its Buddhist wall paintings. The study collection next door shows the "Cave of the Ring-Bearing Doves", surrounded by more than 300 clay sculptures.
The roof terrace
About 30 m up, the 1,800 m² terrace is reached by the lift in the stair hall and offers views in all four directions: Museum Island, the [Brandenburg Gate](/fr/attractions/porte-de-brandebourg), Alexanderplatz, the cathedral and St Mary's Church. A ticket costs €3 (€1.50 reduced); it may close at short notice in snow or icy conditions.
What is free and what you pay for
Free without a ticket: the Sculpture Hall (Skulpturensaal), the palace remains in the basement (Schlosskeller), the video panorama, the exhibition on the Humboldt brothers and the one about water in Berlin. Paid: the ethnological and Asian collections on the 2nd and 3rd floors (€9, free up to and including age 18, half price for students), BERLIN GLOBAL on the 1st floor (€9, free for under-18s), the terrace (€3) and the media guide (€3).
Infos pratiques
Tips
Book tickets online for the paid floors and leave time for the free spaces on the ground floor and in the basement (prices checked in October 2026). Under-19s get into the ethnological and Asian collections for free, under-18s into BERLIN GLOBAL. On Tuesday everything is closed. The museum is a stone's throw from [Museum Island](/fr/attractions/ile-aux-musees-berlin) and makes a good stop [when it rains in Berlin](/fr/articles/berlin-jour-de-pluie).
How to get there
Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin. U-Bahn U5, Museumsinsel station, 1 minute's walk away. Buses 100 and 300, Lustgarten stop; bus 147, Berliner Schloss stop (1 minute's walk). S-Bahn Hackescher Markt (about 10 minutes' walk) or S+U Alexanderplatz (about 15 minutes).
Opening hours
Nearby
Comments
No comments yet.