11 Best Sights in Mitte, Berlin

Half museum, half theme park, the DDR Museum is an interactive and highly entertaining exhibit about life during communism. It’s difficult to say just how much the museum benefits from its prime location beside the Spree, right across from the Berliner Dom, but it's always packed, filled with tourists, families, and student groups trying to get a hands-on feel for what the East German experience was really like. Exhibitions include a re-creation of an East German kitchen, all mustard yellows and bilious greens; a simulated drive in a Trabi, the only car the average East German was allowed to own; and a walk inside a very narrow, very claustrophobic interrogation cell.

The permanent exhibit here is home to an outstanding collection of 18th-, 19th-, and early-20th-century paintings and sculpture, by the likes of Cézanne, Rodin, Degas, and one of Germany's most famous portrait artists, Max Liebermann. Its collection has masterpieces from such 19th-century German painters as Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Caspar David Friedrich, the leading members of the German Romantic school.

Inside the former Tacheles art collective, contemporary photography museum Fotografiska has retained all the former inhabitants’ graffiti on the walls in the hallways and stairwells. Regularly rotating exhibitions range across several floors, showing a mix of photography and videos from both well-known artists, such as Andy Warhol, but also younger emerging artists. You won’t go hungry (or thirsty) here, as there’s a restaurant, two bars (including Bar Clara, on the rooftop), a café, and a bakery; visitors are even encouraged to peruse the artworks with drink in hand. The museum is open till 11 pm every day (last entry at 10 pm), making it perfect for an evening wander.

This light-filled, remodeled train station is home to a rich survey of post-1960 Western art. The permanent collection includes installations by German artists Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer, as well as paintings by Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Morris. An annex presents the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection, featuring a selection of the latest in the world's contemporary art. The more than 1,500 works rotate, but you're bound to see some by Bruce Naumann, Rodney Graham, and Pipilotti Rist.

This reconstruction of the former 15th-century palace that once stood on this site now houses a range of globally focused collections, including the Ethnological Museum and Asian Art Museum, which display more than 500,000 cultural objects from around the world; Humboldt University Lab, which explores science and society; and Berlin Global, which looks at Berlin's connection to the rest of the world through such topics as entertainment, fashion, war, and boundaries. The Forum also includes regularly changing temporary displays, such as the history of ivory and a children’s exhibit. Controversial from the start, due to the razing of the ‘70s-era East German Palast der Republik that formerly stood on the site and the display of colonial-era objects (some of which will be repatriated to their countries of origin), this sprawling museum makes a fascinating day out to see both the building itself and the exhibits inside. Note that you will need to buy individual timed tickets for each exhibit either online or on-site at the ticket office; it isn’t currently possible to buy one ticket to see everything. Though there are several cafés, make a reservation for Baret, the restaurant on the rooftop, if only to see one of the finest panoramic views of Berlin; otherwise, seeing the roof requires buying a ticket.

Originally designed by Friedrich August Stüler in 1843–55, the building housing the Neues Museum was badly damaged in World War II and has only in the 21st century been elaborately redeveloped by British star architect David Chipperfield. Instead of completely restoring the Neues Museum, the architect decided to integrate modern elements into the historic landmark, while leaving many of its heavily bombed and dilapidated areas untouched. The result is a stunning experience, considered by many to be one of the world's greatest museums. Home to the Egyptian Museum, including the famous bust of Nefertiti (who, after some 70 years, has returned to her first museum location in Berlin), it also features the Papyrus Collection and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History.

The reconstructed 18th-century Prinzessinnenpalais (Princesses’ Palace) now houses selections of Deutsche Bank’s contemporary art holdings, which rotate several times a year. Past exhibitions include Ways of Seeing Abstraction, works from German figurative painter K.H. Hödicke, and international photography from the 1970s to the present, along with shows featuring Deutsche Bank's “artists of the year.” Though the art selections may be compact, they’re most often provocative and worthwhile. Take an art break at the attached LePopulaire café, which serves up salads, sandwiches, and heartier mains for lunch or snacks.

The Pergamonmuseum is one of the world's greatest museums and its name is derived from its principal display, the Pergamon Altar, a monumental Greek temple discovered in what is now Turkey and dating from 180 BC. The altar was shipped to Berlin in the late 19th century. Equally impressive are the gateway to the Roman town of Miletus, the Ishtar Gate, and the Babylonian processional way. The entire museum is closed for refurbishment until 2027, when parts of it will reopen, including the famed altar; the rest of the museum isn't scheduled to reopen until 2037. Until then, visitors can see Das Panorama, 360-degree visuals of the ancient city of Pergamon designed by artist Yadegar Asisi and combined with a selection of original sculptures, in a temporary pavilion on Am Kupfergraben, across from Museuminsel.

Both an historic and a modern Berlin attraction all at once, the unique Sammlung Boros houses a private contemporary art collection inside a renovated World War II bunker. Visits are only possible by 90-minute guided tour, which are extremely popular and must be booked online weeks in advance. Tours include both detailed descriptions of the artists and artwork on display, and also the fascinating history and architecture of the bunker itself, which at varying times was used as a war prison, fruit storage facility, and notorious nightclub.

Frederick the Great was a music lover and he made the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, on the east side of Bebelplatz, his first priority. The lavish opera house was completed in 1743 by the same architect who built Sanssouci in Potsdam, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. The house reopened in late 2017 after a major seven-year renovation. There are guided 90-minute tours of the opera house's interior on weekends (book online), but they are offered in German only.

This private collection has become one of Berlin’s star attractions, thanks to its unusual location inside a hulking WWII bunker in Mitte. Contemporary art collector Christian Boros bought the bunker in 2003 to house his art, and built a glass penthouse on top to house his family. The best works are those created specifically for the space by well-known artists such as Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson, and Tomás Saraceno. Since this is a private home, admission is only allowed on guided tours, which take place Thursday to Sunday and can booked online. The tours are popular, so book as early as you can (months in advance).