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Kulturforum Review

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Kulturforum

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Cultural Forum

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: Potsdamer Platz and Kreuzberg

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 4.3/5

Fodor's Review:

This unique ensemble of museums, galleries, and the Philharmonic Hall was long in the making. The first designs were submitted in the 1960s and the last building completed in 1998. The Gemäldegalerie reunites formerly separated collections from East and West Berlin. It's one of Germany's finest art galleries, and has an extensive selection of European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries. Seven rooms are reserved for paintings by German masters, among them Dürer, Cranach the Elder, and Holbein. A special collection has works of the Italian masters—Botticelli, Titian, Giotto, Lippi, and Raphael—as well as paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters of the 15th and 16th centuries: Van Eyck, Bosch, Brueghel the Elder, and van der Weyden. The museum also holds the world's second-largest Rembrandt collection. Matthäikirchpl. 4, Tiergarten. 030/266-2951. www.smb.museum. EUR 8. Tues., Wed., and Fri.-Sun. 10-6, Thurs. 10-10. Potsdamer Platz (U-bahn and S-bahn). Steps away from the Gemäldegalerie are two examples of ultramodern architecture. The Kunstbibliothek (Art Library, Matthäikirchpl. 4, Tiergarten. 030/266-2951. www.smb.museum. EUR 8. Tues.-Fri. 10-6, weekends 11-6; reading room Mon. 9-8, Tues.-Fri. 9-4) contains art posters, a costume library, ornamental engravings, and a commercial-art collection. The Kupferstichkabinett (Drawings and Prints Collection, Matthäikirchpl. 4, Tiergarten. 030/266-2951. www.smb.museum. EUR 8. Tues., Wed., and Fri. 10-6, Thurs. 10-10, weekends 11-6) has occasional exhibits, which include European woodcuts, engravings, and illustrated books from the 15th century to the present (highlights of its holdings are pen-and-ink drawings by Dürer and drawings by Rembrandt). You can request to see one or two drawings in the study room. Another building displays paintings dating from the late Middle Ages to 1800. Inside the Kunstgewerbemuseum are European arts and crafts from the Middle Ages to the present. Among the notable exhibits are the Welfenschatz (Welfen Treasure), a collection of 16th-century gold and silver plates from Nürnberg, as well as ceramics and porcelains. Herbert-von-Karajan-Str. 10, Tiergarten. 030/266-2902. www.smb.museum. EUR 8. Tues.-Fri. 10-6, weekends 11-6. The mustard-yellow complex that resembles a great tent belongs to the Philharmonie (030/254-880), home to the renowned Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 1963. Despite a fire in 2008, the now renovated concert hall hasn't lost its heavenly, unique sound. The Philharmonie and the smaller Chamber Music Hall adjoining it were designed by Hans Scharoun. There's a free tour of the Philharmonie daily at 1 PM. Across the parking lot from the Philharmonie, the Musikinstrumenten-Museum has a fascinating collection of keyboard, string, wind, and percussion instruments. These are demonstrated during an 11 AM tour on Saturday, which closes with a 20-minute Wurlitzer organ concert. Museum, Ben-Gurion-Str. 1, Tiergarten. 030/2548-1129. EUR 4. Tues., Wed., and Fri. 9-5, Thurs. 9AM-10PM, weekends 10-5. The Staatsbibliothek (National Library, Postdamer Str. 33. 030/2660. EUR 10. Weekdays 9-9, Sat. 9-7) is one of the largest libraries in Europe, and was one of the Berlin settings in Wim Wender's 1987 film Wings of Desire.

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by yk from Boston on 11/7/09
Gemaldegalerie has one of the best Old Masters painting collection in the world. If you like Flemish and German paintings, then you'll be in heaven. Audioguide is free with admission, and one can easily spend 3-4 hours there alone.

We ate lunch at the cafeteria inside the Kulturforum which has good food and moderate prices.

We also visited the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts) but limited ourselves to the top floor (Art Nouveau and Art Deco) and the basement (modern designs). Great collection.

Member Rating: 4.8
Ratings details: Experience: 5.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 4.0 Don't Miss: 5.0

Reviewed by cinz_c from Australia on 6/14/07
I only visited the Gemäldegalerie. If you go on a thursday between 6pm to 10pm, you will receive free entry to this exhibition.
Very extensive collection of historical artworks by Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish artists. More notably Rembrandt, Botticelli & Raphael.
Took me about 2 hours to go through most of the collection. Well worth a look!