The Neue Nationalgalerie is Berlin's museum for 20th-century art, and the building is half the reason to go. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the last director of the Bauhaus in Berlin, designed it as a single glass hall under a flat steel roof that rests on just eight columns. It opened on 15 September 1968 with a Piet Mondrian exhibition and was the only building Mies completed in post-war Germany.
The glass hall on the terrace is used for large temporary shows. The collection – Expressionism, Bauhaus-era painting, post-war art – is shown in the basement galleries, which open onto a walled sculpture garden. From 2015 to 2021 the museum was closed for a renovation by David Chipperfield Architects, who took the building apart down to the structure and put it back together with almost no visible change. It reopened in August 2021 with Alexander Calder.
Since 2022 the director has been Klaus Biesenbach. The programme mixes the collection with solo shows by living artists and the annual Preis der Nationalgalerie exhibition. From 28 November 2026 the museum shows Ulay, Ulay & Abramović, 50 years after Ulay walked out of this building with a Spitzweg painting.
Visiting
- Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 10am–6pm, Thursday 10am–8pm, closed Monday.
- Tickets: the museum ticket costs 20 € (concessions 10 €) and covers all exhibitions. Some special shows also sell their own cheaper ticket. Under-18s get in free.
- Free entry: on the first Thursday of every month, 4–8pm, as part of the Volkswagen Group Art4All programme, with free tours and live events.
- Accessibility: fully wheelchair accessible. The step-free entrance is a ramp at the corner of Reichpietschufer and Potsdamer Straße; the original revolving doors are not, so staff open a side door. A lift goes down to the collection, where there are two accessible toilets. Wheelchairs and buggies can be borrowed at the basement cloakroom.
- How long: plan two hours for the collection and one special exhibition.
The official visitor information has current prices and any short-notice closures.
Getting there
The museum sits on the Kulturforum, south of Potsdamer Platz. The closest stops are Potsdamer Brücke (bus 200, M29, M48, M85, about 150 m) and Philharmonie Süd (bus 200, 300, M41). U2 and S-Bahn Potsdamer Platz are about 850 m away; both stations have lifts. There is a car park at Reichpietschufer 49–50, about 100 m from the entrance.
Nearby
The Gemäldegalerie, the Kunstgewerbemuseum and the Berlin Philharmonie share the Kulturforum, a few minutes' walk away. A combined Kulturforum ticket covers the museums there.
Next door, the St. Matthäus-Kirche shows contemporary art too: on 19 November 2026 A K Dolven and Stian Westerhus perform there. Ten minutes south on Potsdamer Straße, Galerie Max Hetzler and Galerie Tanja Wagner open new shows on 20 November.
The museum's own winter show, Ulay, Ulay & Abramović, runs from 28 November 2026 to 2 May 2027, with an opening on 27 November at 7pm.