Berlin's Pergamon Museum, traditionally one of the German capital's top tourist attractions, will reopen in mid-2027 after the first phase of a painstaking restoration effort that has kept its centrepiece out of public view for over a decade.
Reopening Date Announced
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees many of Berlin's museums, announced on Monday that the museum will reopen on June 4, 2027. The museum's centrepiece is the 2nd-century BC Pergamon Altar, decorated with a marble frieze, built between 197 and 156 BC in what is now Bergama, Turkey.
Closure History
The Pergamon Museum has been entirely closed since October 2023. However, the wing housing the Pergamon Altar has been closed for much longer—since 2014. Even after next year's reopening, some sections will remain inaccessible, notably the wing containing Babylon's Ishtar Gate. The museum is scheduled to fully reopen in 2037.
Broader Restoration Context
The restoration is part of a long-term plan to overhaul the neoclassical Museum Island complex, built between 1830 and 1930 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Parts of the island sustained heavy damage during World War II, and the cash-strapped communist East German government never fully restored it. Work on three of the five museums has already been completed, and a new entrance building for the complex, the James Simon Gallery, opened in 2019.
