How much are Bode Museum tickets and is the sculpture collection worth a visit?
The Bode-Museum sits on the northern point of Museum Island, a neo-Baroque wedge with a dome over the water at Am Kupfergraben. Inside are European sculpture from Byzantium to the Baroque, the Museum fuer Byzantinische Kunst and a coin cabinet of roughly 500,000 objects. This guide covers what a ticket costs at the door and online, when the building actually shuts, one closure that affects anyone visiting this summer, and whether the evening concert is worth the extra money.
About This Experience
Am Kupfergraben, 10178 Berlin, on the northern tip of Museum Island in Mitte. The visitor entrance is on the Monbijoubruecke side, not on Bodestrasse, which is where most people go wrong.
S-Bahn Friedrichstrasse or Hackescher Markt, then 6 to 8 minutes along the Spree. U6 Friedrichstrasse works, U5 Museumsinsel leaves about a 7 minute walk. Trams M1 and M12 stop at Am Kupfergraben, M1, M4, M5 and M6 at Hackescher Markt, both 4 to 5 minutes out.
Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 18:00. Closed every Monday, closed 24 and 31 December, Sunday hours on public holidays and on 25 and 26 December, and 12:00 to 18:00 on 1 January.
A single Bode-Museum ticket at the door is 14.00 euros, concession 7.00. The Museumsinsel day ticket is 24.00 euros, concession 12.00, and the 3 day Museumspass Berlin is 32.00 euros, concession 16.00, both including the Bode. Under 18s go free. Berlin's free first Sunday scheme ended in December 2024.
Ernst von Ihne built it between 1897 and 1904 as the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. It was renamed in 1956 after Wilhelm von Bode, the founding director who assembled most of what hangs and stands in it.
The Great Domed Hall with the equestrian Great Elector, the Basilica hall of Florentine altarpieces, Donatello's Pazzi Madonna, the Ravenna apse mosaic of around 545 in room 115 and the Riemenschneider limewood carvings in room 121.
Check Live Availability & Prices
The entry ticket does not use timed slots, so the date is the only real variable and you can buy up to four weeks ahead. Concert dates are a separate calendar and thinner. Live prices below.
Which Bode Museum Ticket to Pick
There are two very different products here. The straight entry ticket runs $16 online and gets you the whole permanent collection on the day you choose, with no timed slot to hit. The door price is 14.00 euros, so you are paying a small margin for skipping the counter queue and holding a ticket in a currency you understand; on a wet Saturday when the Neues Museum line is out the door, that is money reasonably spent, and on a Wednesday at 10:00 it makes very little difference.
The second option is a classical concert inside the museum at $37, rated 4.4 from 29 travelers, a chamber programme played among the sculpture with the stone doing most of the work on the acoustics. Sessions typically start at 16:00 and run 90 minutes to two hours with an interval, and the concert ticket is separate from museum admission rather than an add-on to it. Book it because you want to hear music in that building, not as a cheaper way in.
If you are visiting more than one house, neither single ticket is the sensible buy. The 24.00 euro Museumsinsel day ticket covers the Bode plus its open neighbours, and the 32.00 euro three day Museumspass pays for itself at about two and a half museums. Work out how many you will realistically walk through before you pay for anything, and if you are still deciding which houses deserve the day, our roundup of Berlin's best museums sets them against each other.
Bode Museum Tickets and Concerts
One product gets you through the door on the day of your choice. The other puts you in a seat inside the building after the galleries have emptied.
from $16 Bode Museum Ticket
- Byzantine & Baroque sculpture
- Huge coin cabinet
- Rarely crowded
from $37 Classical Concert at the Bode Museum
- Concert among the sculpture
- Bode's Basilica hall
- Evening slot
What You'll See
The Great Domed Hall hits you inside the entrance, with the equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector, standing under the cupola. Past it is the Basilica, a full scale Italian Renaissance church interior built into the museum to hold Florentine altarpieces and sacred sculpture, and the room most people remember afterwards. The Italian holdings around it include Donatello's marble relief the Pazzi Madonna of about 1420 and his small bronze Putto with a Tambourine.
Room 121 has the Tilman Riemenschneider limewood carvings, the high point of the German late Gothic collection and worth the detour even if Renaissance Italy is what brought you.
Two collections share the building and get far less attention than they deserve. The Museum fuer Byzantinische Kunst holds late antique sarcophagi, ivories and Coptic material, including the apse mosaic from San Michele in Africisco in Ravenna, dated to around 545 to 546 and one of very few Ravenna mosaics outside Italy; it is in room 115. The Muenzkabinett is one of the largest coin collections in the world, roughly 500,000 objects running from 7th century BC electrum through to the euro.
Trying to do sculpture, Byzantium and coins in a single visit is how people leave remembering none of it. Pick one thread.
How a Visit Flows
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09:55
Arrive at the right bridge
Come along the Spree from Hackescher Markt or Friedrichstrasse and cross at the Monbijoubruecke. People routinely walk to the Bodestrasse side and lose ten minutes finding their way back round.
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10:00
Bags, then the desk
Large bags and backpacks go into the cloakroom on the ground floor. Take the free floor plan while you are there; the wedge shaped building with its two courtyards genuinely turns people around.
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10:15
Domed hall and Basilica
Stand under the cupola with the Great Elector, then walk into the Basilica and sit down for ten minutes rather than passing through it. It is the room the building was really designed around.
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11:00
Donatello and the Germans
The Italian rooms first, then room 121 for the Riemenschneider carvings. On a weekday morning you can have a Donatello to yourself, which is not a sentence that applies anywhere else on the island.
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12:00
Byzantium or coins
Choose one. Room 115 for the Ravenna mosaic and the Byzantine collection, or the Muenzkabinett if coins and medals are your thing. Both reward an hour and punish a rushed twenty minutes.
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12:45
Out to the terrace
The cafe terrace and the bridge steps give you the dome, the water and the rest of the island. If you are doing a second museum, remember the Bode shuts at 17:00 on weekdays while the Neues Museum runs to 18:00.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Anyone needing full step free access, since the building is only partly wheelchair accessible and lift routing has to be arranged; ring 030 266 42 42 42 ahead
- Visitors coming specifically for Level 0, which is closed from 1 July to 4 October 2026 for exhibition work
- Children who need something interactive, as this is quiet galleries of stone, wood and small objects behind glass
What to bring
- Your booking confirmation on your phone, or a printout if your battery is unreliable
- A small bag only, since large rucksacks have to go into the cloakroom
- The free floor plan from the desk, which is the single most useful thing in the building
- A jacket for the terrace and the walk along the Spree, which is exposed in any wind
Not allowed
- Flash photography anywhere in the collection
- Tripods, including compact travel tripods
- Photography in some loan and temporary exhibitions, which are signed at the room entrance
Insider Tips
Six things worth knowing before you cross the bridge.
- This is the least visited house on Museum Island, and that is the reason to come. You can stand alone in front of a Donatello on a day when the Neues Museum has a queue round the block.
- Wednesday or Thursday at 10:00 gives you near empty galleries. Saturday afternoon is the slot to avoid; Sunday morning is calmer than it sounds.
- Decide on one thread before you walk in, sculpture or Byzantine art or coins, and let the other two go.
- Take the floor plan at the desk. Reviewers mention getting lost in this building more often than they mention any single object in it.
- Sit in the Basilica for ten minutes instead of walking through. The scale and the light only register when you stop moving.
- The cafe terrace and the steps on the Monbijoubruecke side give you the classic dome and Spree photograph, and cost nothing.
Where You're Headed
Bode Museum Tickets FAQ
How much does a Bode Museum ticket cost in 2026?
A single ticket at the door is 14.00 euros, concession 7.00 euros, and under 18s go free. Booked online through our partner the entry ticket is $16, which saves you the counter queue. The classical concert inside the museum is a separate product at $37 and does not include daytime admission.
Is the Bode Museum included in the Museum Island day ticket?
Yes. The Museumsinsel day ticket at 24.00 euros, concession 12.00 euros, covers the Bode-Museum along with the other open Museum Island venues on one day. The 3 day Museumspass Berlin at 32.00 euros, concession 16.00, includes it too and is the better buy if you are in Berlin for a few days.
What time does the Bode Museum close?
17:00 Tuesday to Friday and 18:00 on Saturday and Sunday, opening at 10:00 every day it is open. The weekday 17:00 close catches people out, because the Neues Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie next door stay open until 18:00. If you are doing several houses in a day, do the Bode first.
Which days is the Bode Museum closed?
It is closed every Monday, and on 24 and 31 December. On 25 and 26 December and on public holidays it keeps Sunday hours, and on 1 January it opens 12:00 to 18:00. Separately, Level 0 of the museum is closed to visitors from 1 July to 4 October 2026 while exhibition work is carried out.
How long do you need at the Bode Museum?
Two to two and a half hours is a realistic full visit across sculpture, the Byzantine collection and the coin cabinet. If you stick to the domed hall, the Basilica and the Donatello rooms you can do it properly in 60 to 90 minutes, which is what most people actually have.
What is inside the Bode Museum Basilica?
The Basilica is a full scale Italian Renaissance church interior built into the museum to display Florentine altarpieces and sacred sculpture. It works as a room as much as a display, and it is the part of the building visitors remember. Sit down in it rather than walking straight through.
Can you take photos inside the Bode Museum?
Yes, for private use, without flash and without a tripod, in the permanent collection. Some loans and temporary exhibitions are excluded and those rooms are signed at the entrance. The outdoor shot from the bridge steps, with the dome above the Spree, is the one most people end up keeping.
How do you book a classical concert at the Bode Museum?
Concerts are staged inside the museum, including the Staatsoper Museumskonzerte series and weekend afternoon chamber programmes, usually starting at 16:00 and running 90 minutes to two hours with an interval. Tickets are sold separately from museum admission; the bookable option here is $37 and dates are limited, so check the calendar early.
What Visitors Say
We came on a Wednesday at opening and had the Donatello room to ourselves for twenty minutes. Same island, same day, and the Neues Museum had a line down the steps.
Two courtyards and a wedge shaped floor plan, and we got lost twice. Take the paper plan at the desk. Also we did not realise it shuts at five on a weekday and lost the coin cabinet.
The concert was the best thing we did in Berlin. Chamber music with sculpture around you and stone acoustics, and it finished early enough to walk along the Spree for dinner afterwards.