Alte Nationalgalerie

The Alte Nationalgalerie on the Museumsinsel in Berlin-Mitte is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and presents the art of the 19th century within the island’s historic ensemble.

The museum is located on the eastern part of the island, between the tracks of the Berliner Stadtbahn and the Bodestraße; to the west it is adjoined by the Pergamon-Museum, to the south by the Neues Museum and the Altes Museum as well as the Berliner Dom. The monumental external staircase with the bronze equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelms IV and the allegorical figures on its pedestal is a distinctive exterior feature.

By royal commission planning began in 1862, the site was prepared in the 1860s, the foundation stone was laid in 1867, and after completion of the roof structure in 1872 the building was opened in 1876. The architecture combines gabled temple fronts, an imposing staircase and an apse – a symbolic synthesis of nation, history and art. Materials for the façades and colonnades come from regional sandstones; stylistically the building stands between late Classicism and the emerging Neo-Renaissance. The exterior appearance has remained largely original, while the interior spaces have been repeatedly reworked for exhibition purposes.

During World War II the building suffered severe damage; from the mid-1940s salvage and reconstruction work began, a partial public reopening took place in 1949, and major restorations continued into the 1960s. Because of the political division of Berlin the collection was split and for a time shown in West Berlin; after reunification the 19th-century works returned to the Museumsinsel. A comprehensive renovation in the 1990s led to the reopening of the building at the end of 2001. In 2019 the Alte Nationalgalerie was visited by approximately 376,000 people.

The collection presents key positions of the 19th century across several levels: On the ground floor are neoclassical sculptures such as the Prinzessinnengruppe and pathways of Realism with sculptures and paintings by national and European artists; significant works by Adolph Menzel can also be seen here. The second floor is devoted to Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism with works by Carl Spitzweg, Arnold Böcklin, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne as well as German Impressionists and sculptures by Auguste Rodin. On the upper floor the Goethe era and Romanticism are presented with paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Nazarene painters; a marble funerary sculpture by Johann Gottfried Schadow is exhibited as a permanent loan. In 2024 the acquisition of Camille Claudel’s L’Implorante was completed; it is planned as a central component of an exhibition scheduled for 2025.

Since 2015 the educational and outreach project “Multaka – Treffpunkt Museum” has existed; since the end of 2023 the Alte Nationalgalerie has been involved and offers intercultural guided tours for Arabic- and Persian-speaking audiences.