Neues Museum Berlin Tickets 2026: Nefertiti, €14, What's Open

Berlin has one museum that most international visitors have already decided to see before they land, and it is closed. The Pergamon shut in October 2023 and the North Wing does not return until 4 June 2027.

The Neues Museum, thirty seconds away on the same island, is open, holds the bust of Nefertiti, and costs €14. It is the stop that answers the question people are actually asking when they search for the Pergamon.

In 3 minutes, you'll know:

• Which ticket makes sense for one museum versus a day on the island
• The photography rule at the Nefertiti room, and the workaround
• What else in the building is worth your ninety minutes

Tickets: which one to buy

Three prices to keep straight:

• Neues Museum only — €14 (€7 concession, under 18 free), direct from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. A time slot is normally required, so book it rather than arriving on spec.
• Museumsinsel-Ticket — €24 (€12 concession). Covers the Neues, the Altes Museum, the Bode, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Pergamon Panorama for one day. GetYourGuide resells the same day ticket at a small markup with skip-the-line entry.
• Museum Pass Berlin — €32 (€16 concession) for three consecutive days across 30+ museums, including everything above plus the Gemäldegalerie and the Neue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum.

The arithmetic that matters: two individual Museum Island entries cost €28, which is already more than the €24 day ticket. If there is any chance of a second building, the single ticket is the expensive option.

One warning about resale listings. GetYourGuide's own page currently describes the Neues as open every day with a late Thursday close. The museum's site says Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, closed Mondays. Trust the museum, and do not plan a Monday.

The Nefertiti room, and the rule nobody mentions

She sits alone in the North Dome Hall. No other object shares the room, which is the point: the space was built to give a 3,300-year-old limestone bust the treatment usually reserved for a single painting.

Photography is banned inside that room. The museum gives two reasons, and both are honest ones: the bust tolerates only limited light exposure, and when the museum reopened in 2009 with photography allowed, phones and flashes in front of her made the room unusable for everyone else.

Here is the part most visitors never learn. You can photograph her from either of the two rooms that adjoin the North Dome Hall. The ban covers the dome room itself, not the sightline into it. Anyone who has come this far for one picture should walk into the neighbouring room and look back rather than argue with a guard.

The bust was found at Amarna in December 1912 by Ludwig Borchardt's German expedition and has been in Berlin since 1913. Egypt has requested her return for decades. The museum does not hide the dispute, and knowing it before you stand there makes the room a more interesting place to be.

What else is in the building

Treating this as a one-object museum is the common mistake. Three collections share the building, and the Egyptian floor is only the loudest of them.

The Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection fills the upper floors: the Amarna material around Nefertiti, the Egyptian Court, and a papyrus holding that goes well beyond the postcard names.

The Museum of Prehistory and Early History holds the Berlin Golden Hat, a Bronze Age cone of beaten gold covered in calendrical symbols. It is roughly 3,000 years old, it is one of four ever found, and visitors regularly walk past it because they came for Egypt.

The Antikensammlung contributes classical material, including the bronze known as the Boy from Xanten.

Then there is the building itself. Friedrich August Stüler finished it in 1859, Allied bombing gutted it, and it stood as a ruin for over fifty years. David Chipperfield's reconstruction reopened in 2009 and deliberately left the damage legible: scorched brick, missing frescoes and bullet-scarred walls sit beside new surfaces instead of being smoothed over. The stair hall is the clearest example, and it is worth stopping in even if the archaeology leaves you cold.

What do most visitors wish they knew before going?

Three things. First, the entrance is not the Neues Museum's own facade but the James-Simon-Galerie on Bodestraße, which is where the tickets and the cloakroom are, and where every group is sent. Second, anything larger than 30 x 20 x 10 cm has to go into a locker before you enter, so a day pack turns into a queue you did not budget for. Third, that people arrive expecting the Pergamon's Ishtar Gate and find a different museum entirely; the Gate is in the Pergamon's South Wing, which stays shut into the 2030s. Coming in knowing that is the difference between a good visit and a disappointed one.

Frequently asked questions

How much are Neues Museum tickets in 2026?

€14 for adults, €7 concession, free for under 18s, booked direct from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The Museumsinsel-Ticket covers the Neues plus every other open Museum Island venue for €24 (€12 concession) on the same day. The Museum Pass Berlin is €32 for three consecutive days across 30+ Berlin museums.

Where is the bust of Nefertiti?

In the North Dome Hall of the Neues Museum, on Museum Island. She is the only object in that room — the room was designed around her. The bust has been in Berlin since 1913, found the previous year at Amarna by Ludwig Borchardt's German excavation.

Can you take photos of the Nefertiti bust?

Not from inside the North Dome Hall itself, where photography is banned for conservation and to keep the room moving. You can photograph her from either of the two rooms adjoining the North Dome Hall, which is the detail most visitors miss. Selfie sticks are banned across the whole museum.

What are the Neues Museum opening hours?

Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00. Closed Mondays. The museum also closes 15-17 March 2027 for maintenance. A time-slot is normally required for entry, so book the slot rather than turning up and hoping.

Is the Neues Museum the same as the Pergamon Museum?

No, and this is the confusion worth clearing up before you book. They are two separate buildings on Museum Island. The Pergamonmuseum has been closed since October 2023 and reopens partially on 4 June 2027. The Neues Museum is open, and it holds Nefertiti.

Is the Neues Museum worth visiting?

If you have one Museum Island slot, this is the one to spend it on. Beyond Nefertiti it holds the Berlin Golden Hat, the Egyptian Court and David Chipperfield's rebuild, which left the war damage visible instead of hiding it. Most visitors need 90 minutes to two hours.

How do you get into the Neues Museum?

Through the James-Simon-Galerie on Bodestraße, not through the Neues Museum's own facade. Nearest stops are U-Bahn Museumsinsel, S-Bahn Friedrichstraße or Hackescher Markt, and the Am Kupfergraben tram. The entrance is wheelchair accessible.

The honest summary: the Neues is the Museum Island building that rewards a single visit most, and the closure of the Pergamon has made it the default rather than the alternative. Budget two hours, book a slot, and read the full Museum Island route if you plan to use the day ticket properly. If you came to Berlin specifically for the Ishtar Gate, the Pergamon closure timeline is the page to read first.