Top 5 Museums in Berlin to visit before you die!

Berlin, the capital of Germany, is the largest city in Germany and widely known for its rich history, museums, street art, clubs, bars and diversity of its population. The city's architecture is mixed -as is its population-, due to World War II and the Cold War. The city got damaged during the war quite a bit, but it rebuilt itself right after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In this marvellous city, you can find many interesting stuff from different historical eras. It is definitely a place for every taste, since you can see a part of yourself in every corner. It is known that there are more than 170 (yes 170) museums in Berlin, but here are the top 5 museums you need to visit before you die! 

If you want to check out the impressive reconstructions of massive archaeological structures, such as the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus, the Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way from Babylon, and the Mshatta Facade, then you have to visit the Pergamon Museum! This massive museum with its extraordinary reconstructions of archaeological excavations, is one of Germany’s most visited museums. 

The sad news is (well, semi-sad) that the hall that contains the Pergamon Altar will be closed until at least 2023 due to renovations; however you can always enjoy the rest of the museum till then and attend many of its interesting events and exhibitions.

If you want to check out a vast collection of Egyptian art, a Neanderthal skull, Heinrich Schliemann's Trojan antiquities, AND the bust of Nefertiti which was created in 1345 B.C, you have to visit "Neues Museum". The museum's name in English, is "The New Museum". This stunning building was originally built in the 19th century by the famous Friedrich August Stüler, but sadly it was all destroyed during WW2. Thanks to the British architect David Chipperfield, the museum was restored and reopened in 1999. Not only the inside, but also the external architecture of this museum is stunning. The building was built with recycled bricks, which retain some of its original elements and  represent the man's ability to create, destroy and preserve. In Chipperfield’s words:

In the museum island, you can find the "Altes Museum" which has the city’s collection of classical antiquities, including works from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. This amazing Neoclassical building was built in 1830 and today, functions as a museum. In Altes Museum or in English, in the "Old Museum" you can check out not only the classical antiquities, but also you can get dazzled by one of the largest collections of Etruscan art that can be found outside of Italy!

The "Bode Museum"  is where you can find absolutely amazing sculpture collections and Byzantine art dating back from the 3rd to the 15th century, including carvings and gorgeous mosaics! In here, you can check out world-famous sculptures, such as; Donatello’s ‘Pazzi Madonna’ and Antonio Canova’s ‘Dancer’, the iconic ‘Tarquinius und Lucretia’ by Petro Tacca, as well as an important German sculpture by Tilman Riemenschneider and Ignaz Günther. Not only the sculptures but the interior of this museum is also breathtaking. It is literally a standing masterpiece. 

And lastly, "The Natural History Museum" aka "Museum für Naturkunde". Well, this "museum" is also a research facility, dedicated to the study of life and our lovely planet Earth!  If you are into zoology, paleontology, geology and mineralogy, you have to pay a visit to this museum! In here you can see a collection of over 30 million items, such as; bugs, rocks, snails, lizards, fossils, dinosaur skeletons, fish, birds, mammals, snakes, frogs, plants, meteorites and many more!