Museum für islamische Kunst

In the Pergamonmuseum on the Museumsinsel, the Museum für Islamische Kunst presents an extensive collection of Islamic artworks and is part of the Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. It displays objects from the region between Spain and India, dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.

Particular strengths are objects from Egypt, the Near East and Iran; additionally, there are finds from excavations in Ktesiphon, Samarra and Tabgha. Other important holdings document the book arts and miniature painting of the Mughal Empire, as well as Sicilian ivory work. Outstanding exhibits include the Mschatta-Fassade, the Aleppo-Zimmer, a dome from the Alhambra, two mihrabs from Kaschan and Konya, a dragon‑phoenix carpet from Asia Minor, and a Qur'an folding lectern from the 13th century. Rotating presentations in the book art cabinets complement the permanent exhibition; in addition, exhibitions of contemporary art from the Islamic world have also been shown.

The institution was founded in 1904 as the Islamic Department in the then Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum; the Mschatta-Fassade, together with carpets, constituted the beginnings of the collection. In the newly constructed Pergamonmuseum the museum moved into the south wing and opened in 1932. World War II led to its closure in 1939 and caused, in part, severe losses and destruction. From the 1950s onwards the collection was gradually made accessible again; in 1992 the holdings were administratively reunited, and in 2000 a newly redesigned permanent exhibition opened in the Pergamonmuseum.

From 2015 until the temporary closure in October 2023, the "Multaka – Treffpunkt Museum" program offered Arabic- and Persian-speaking visitors the opportunity for intercultural exchange. The institution's research projects range from excavations in Herat and the Citadel of Aleppo to the creation of digital cultural heritage registers, to collection-related investigations of Ktesiphon, Samarra and Khurasan, as well as digitization measures for the holdings.