The Museum Barberini stands on Potsdam's Alter Markt, a short walk from the main station and about forty minutes from central Berlin. The building is a reconstruction: Frederick the Great had the original palace built in 1771–72, modelled on the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, and it was destroyed in April 1945. Software entrepreneur Hasso Plattner paid for the rebuild, and the museum opened in January 2017.
It is known for French Impressionism. Plattner's collection, shown on the upper floors, includes more than thirty paintings by Claude Monet, among them several of his views of water and gardens, along with works by Renoir, Sisley, Caillebotte, Morisot and the Post-Impressionists. Temporary shows are on the lower floors. Until 21 February 2027 the museum shows The Impressionists. Monet, Morisot, Renoir and Their Network, about the friendships, dealers and patrons around the painters. It opens the museum's tenth-anniversary year; see the Museum Barberini's 2027 exhibitions for what follows.
The programme goes beyond the walls: daily public tours, family workshops and occasional concerts, such as the KlangFarben chamber concert on 13 November 2026 with the Kammerakademie Potsdam.
Visiting
- Hours: Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 10am–7pm, closed Tuesday. The ticket desk closes at 6.15pm.
- Tickets: 16 € Monday and Wednesday to Friday, 18 € at weekends and on holidays, 10 € for everyone from 5.30pm. Concessions 10 €. A combined ticket with DAS MINSK Kunsthaus costs 20 €. Book a time slot online for busy weekends.
- Tours: public tours run several times a day in German, with some in other languages. Many sell out, so book ahead. On some Sunday mornings a tour with breakfast in the café is offered.
- How long: two hours for the collection and the special exhibition.
Getting there
From Berlin take the S7 or the RE1 to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (an ABC ticket covers it), then walk ten minutes over the Lange Brücke. Trams stop at Alter Markt/Landtag.
Nearby
The Potsdam Museum and the rebuilt Landtag in the old City Palace share the Alter Markt. For contemporary art, the Kunstraum Potsdam at the Schiffbauergasse is a short tram ride away; it opens ARTEFACTS on 21 November 2026. For a full art day, combine the Barberini with a Berlin evening at the Hamburger Bahnhof, open until 8pm on Thursdays and showing Sophie Calle from 13 November 2026.