What does a ticket to Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin cost and what is inside?
The Hamburger Bahnhof sits on Invalidenstrasse in Moabit, a ten minute walk north of Hauptbahnhof, and it is Berlin's oldest surviving railway terminus. Trains stopped coming in the 1880s; contemporary art moved in during the 1990s, and the building now carries the name Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. This guide covers what a ticket costs, what the collection actually puts on the walls, why the display keeps changing, and when the free first-Thursday evening runs.
About This Experience
Invalidenstrasse 50, Moabit, 10557 Berlin, on the north side of the street with the neoclassical front block facing you and the long freight halls behind it.
Take S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram or bus to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, then walk north along Invalidenstrasse for roughly five to ten minutes. U5 stops at Hauptbahnhof, and trams M5, M8 and M10 use the same interchange. There is no closer station, so plan on the walk.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 10:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday 11:00 to 18:00, closed Monday. The later 11:00 weekend start catches people out, so do not arrive at 10:00 on a Sunday expecting to walk in.
A day ticket at the door is 16.00 euros, concession 8.00 euros, and it covers the collection plus every temporary exhibition on site. Under 18s go free, along with carers accompanying visitors with severe disabilities and press card holders. Family Sunday tickets are 10.00 euros for two people including one under 18, or 15.00 euros for three or more. An annual pass starts at 25.00 euros, and the three-day Museum Pass Berlin at 32.00 euros, concession 16.00 euros, includes this museum.
Built in 1846 to 1847 as the end of the line from Hamburg, left derelict after the war, and converted by Josef Paul Kleihues into an art museum that opened in 1996. Behind it stand the Rieckhallen, former freight warehouses turned into raw gallery space.
The Marx Collection core of Beuys, Kiefer, Rauschenberg, Twombly and Warhol, Warhol's large Mao of 1973, roughly 450 Beuys drawings alongside his fat and felt work, and the free Forum display on the building's own history.
Check Live Availability & Prices
One ticket covers the whole site, and it can be booked up to 28 days ahead. Live dates and prices are below.
Which Hamburger Bahnhof Ticket to Pick
There is one product here and it does one job. The entrance ticket at $18 covers the front building, the collection presentations and whatever fills the Rieckhallen behind, with no add-on pricing to work out. That is a real advantage over the Kulturforum, where the collection and the temporary shows are sold apart.
It carries 4.3 from 295 reviews, a middling score for a serious museum, and reading the reviews explains it: people who arrive expecting a canon of famous paintings leave disappointed, while people who came for current art do not.
It suits anyone who follows contemporary art and wants to see what a large German state museum is doing with it right now. The scale helps: the main hall takes work at a size most galleries cannot handle, and the freight sheds behind swallow installation and video pieces whole. If your taste runs to 19th century painting or antiquities, spend the money on Museum Island instead.
The 16.00 euro door price and the $18 online ticket are close enough that convenience, not cost, decides between them.
What the ticket does not buy is certainty. Nothing here is a fixed permanent hang, so you cannot count on standing in front of a particular Warhol or a particular Kiefer on the day you turn up. The house shows its holdings in rotating presentations, and a work you saw two years ago may be in storage or on loan.
Check the current programme before you commit half a day, the same way you would with our guide to art museums in Berlin for the other modern houses. The free Forum display on the building's own history costs nothing and needs no ticket at all, which is worth knowing if you arrive late.
Hamburger Bahnhof Entry Ticket
A single day ticket covering the collection presentations, the temporary exhibitions and the Rieckhallen behind the main building.
from $18 Hamburger Bahnhof Museum Entrance Ticket
- Contemporary art at full scale
- Beuys, Kiefer & Rauschenberg
- Former railway terminus
What You'll See
The Marx Collection is the historic core and it turns on five artists: Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol. Warhol's large Mao of 1973 is the single work most associated with the house, and the Warhol holdings run to nearly 60 pieces on the museum's own count, which makes the Pop rooms unusually deep for a European museum. The Beuys material is among the largest anywhere: roughly 450 drawings plus the fat and felt sculptures that made his reputation, and Kiefer's lead works sit alongside them.
None of that is on permanent view. The collection is shown in rotating presentations under the Museum in Motion banner, so treat the current display as the thing you are buying rather than a set route through greatest hits. Behind the main building, the Rieckhallen are long converted freight warehouses used for large installation, video and multimedia work, and they are programmed show by show.
From 9 October 2026 to February 2027 five artists who once kept studios in those warehouses return there for an exhibition, and the museum marks 30 years as an art museum with a programme on 13 to 15 November 2026. Forum Hamburger Bahnhof, a free interactive display about the building and the institution, sits apart from all of it.
How a Visit Flows
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09:50
Walk up from Hauptbahnhof
Come out of the main station and head north along Invalidenstrasse. Five to ten minutes on foot, a straight line, and there is no station closer than this one.
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10:00
Tickets and cloakroom
Weekday opening is 10:00, weekends 11:00. Coats and bags go in the cloakroom, and one day ticket covers everything on the site.
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10:15
The main hall
Start under the old train shed roof, where the largest works go. This is the room that justifies the conversion, and it reads better before the crowd thickens.
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11:15
The collection presentation
Work through the current rotation of the Marx holdings. Beuys, Warhol, Kiefer and Twombly appear in changing combinations rather than a fixed hang.
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12:15
The Rieckhallen
Cross to the freight halls at the back for installation and video work, if the wing is open for the show that is running. Give it a proper hour, since these pieces are slow to watch.
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13:30
Forum, cafe and shop
Finish with the free Forum display on the building's own history, then the cafe and bookshop. Two to three hours is a realistic total for the whole site.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Monday visitors, when the museum is closed, and anyone arriving at 10:00 on a Saturday or Sunday before the 11:00 opening
- Visitors who need step-free access throughout, since the Rieckhallen in particular are flagged as not barrier-free
- Anyone who wants to see one specific famous work, because the display rotates and nothing is guaranteed
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes, since the main hall plus the freight sheds is a lot of floor
- Concession proof if you are claiming the reduced 8.00 euro door rate
- A Museum Pass Berlin if you already hold one, as it covers this museum
- Time, because installation-heavy shows are slower than a painting gallery
Not allowed
- Large bags and rucksacks in the galleries; use the cloakroom
- Photography in exhibitions signposted against it, which is common here because much of the programme is loans and living artists
- Food and drink outside the cafe
Insider Tips
Six things worth knowing before you go.
- Treat this as an exhibitions museum, not a greatest hits collection. Decide by what is on rather than by reputation.
- Walk from Hauptbahnhof instead of hunting for a nearer stop. It is a straight five to ten minutes up Invalidenstrasse and nothing else gets you closer.
- The free Art4All evening on the first Thursday of the month, 16:00 to 20:00, is the cheapest way in, and it applies here as well as at the Neue Nationalgalerie.
- Go for the Rieckhallen if raw industrial space appeals. The experimental video and installation work lives back there, and it feels nothing like the neoclassical front building.
- The Forum display on the building's history is free, which helps if you arrive late in the day and do not want to pay for a rushed hour.
- Thursday runs to 20:00, so an evening visit leaves the daylight for something else and puts dinner at the end of it.
Where You're Headed
Hamburger Bahnhof FAQ
How much is a ticket to Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin?
A day ticket at the door is 16.00 euros, concession 8.00 euros, and it covers the collection and every temporary exhibition on the site. Booked online, the entrance ticket runs at $18. Under 18s enter free, and Sunday family tickets are 10.00 euros for two or 15.00 euros for three or more, each including one under 18.
What day is Hamburger Bahnhof closed?
Every Monday. The rest of the week runs 10:00 to 18:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 to 20:00 on Thursday, and 11:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and Sunday. Staatliche Museen holiday hours apply around Christmas, New Year and public holidays.
When is Hamburger Bahnhof free to enter?
On the first Thursday of the month from 16:00 to 20:00, under the Volkswagen Group Art4All scheme, which also covers the Neue Nationalgalerie. That is monthly, not weekly. The Forum display on the building's own history is free at any time. Berlin's Museumssonntag free-first-Sunday scheme ended with its last edition on 1 December 2024.
How do you get to Hamburger Bahnhof from Berlin Hauptbahnhof?
Walk north along Invalidenstrasse for roughly five to ten minutes. Hauptbahnhof is served by S-Bahn, U5, trams M5, M8 and M10, and numerous buses, and there is no station closer to the museum than that interchange.
How long does it take to see Hamburger Bahnhof?
Two to three hours is realistic. The main hall and the Rieckhallen together cover a lot of floor, and installation and video work takes longer to watch than a room of paintings.
What artists are in the Hamburger Bahnhof collection?
The Marx Collection core is Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol. The Beuys holdings include roughly 450 drawings plus his fat and felt sculptures, and the Warhol group runs to nearly 60 works. What hangs on any given day depends on the current rotation.
Are the Rieckhallen open to visitors?
They are part of the museum and covered by the same ticket, but they are programmed exhibition by exhibition rather than open continuously, so check the current programme. They are also flagged as not barrier-free, so contact the museum first if step-free access to that wing matters.
Does the Museum Pass Berlin cover Hamburger Bahnhof?
Yes. The pass costs 32.00 euros, concession 16.00 euros, runs three consecutive days and includes this museum along with the other Staatliche Museen houses.
What Visitors Say
We came for the Beuys and got a rotation that leaned heavily on video work instead. Still glad we went, but check what is actually hanging before you build a day around one artist.
The old freight halls behind the main building were the best part. Enormous raw rooms with work scaled to fit them. Nothing else in the city looks like that.
Turned up at ten on a Sunday and had to wait an hour for the eleven o'clock opening. My mistake, but the weekend start time is easy to miss.