Neues Museum Berlin: seeing the bust of Nefertiti, opening hours and tickets

The Neues Museum, Bodestraße 1-3 on Museum Island, is home to the bust of Nefertiti, sculpted around 1340 BC, surrounded by the collections of the Egyptian Museum, the Museum of Prehistory and Early History and the classical antiquities. Built between 1843 and 1855 by Friedrich August Stüler and badly damaged in the Second World War, it reopened in 2009 after a restoration by the British architect David Chipperfield, who left the scars of destruction visible. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00; a ticket costs €14, free for under-18s. The collections fill four levels, numbered 0 to 3, and the audio guide is included in the ticket price. Allow at least two hours for your visit.

Highlights

The bust of Nefertiti

It is displayed on its own in room 210 (level 2), the north dome room. This painted stucco-coated limestone bust depicts the wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten; it was found in 1912 at Amarna, in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, during Ludwig Borchardt's excavations. Look at the left eye, which never received its inlay. Photography is not allowed in this room.

The stair hall

At the heart of the building (room 200), David Chipperfield's grand staircase rises between bare brick walls, where the original decoration was lost in the war. The whole museum plays on this contrast between surviving 19th-century murals and new surfaces.

Stüler's building

Completed in 1855, the building was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the whole island in 1999. Visitors now enter through the James-Simon-Galerie, which connects to level 1 of the museum.

Ancient Egypt

The Egyptian Museum traces four millennia of Egyptian and Nubian cultures: royal portraits, burial chambers, papyri. On level 0, the Egyptian Courtyard (room 012) presents the journey to the afterlife; on level 2, the Amarna Period room (room 209) leads into Nefertiti's room.

The Golden Hat and Priam's Treasure

On level 3, room 305 displays the Berlin Golden Hat, a Bronze Age gold cone whose circular ornaments are interpreted as a solar and lunar calendar. On level 1, rooms 103 and 104 are devoted to Heinrich Schliemann's Troy, with the silver vessels from Priam's Treasure. On level 2, room 201 shows the Xanten Youth, a Roman bronze.

Temporary exhibitions

"Destiny in the Stars", on the beginnings of the zodiac, runs until 10 January 2027, and an exhibition on 100 years of the Dictionary of the Egyptian Language runs until 31 December 2026.

Opening hours and prices

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Mondays, and from 15 to 17 March 2027 for maintenance work. Full price €14, concessions €7, free for under-18s (free ticket to collect at the desk or online). The €24 Museumsinsel ticket and the €32 Museumspass Berlin also give access to the museum.

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