Take a virtual tour of these Berlin museums from home
Stuck inside? You can still experience some of Berlin’s best cultural offerings from your couch! Berliners are spending more time at home than likely ever before, as the novel coronavirus pandemic has led to limitations. But many museums have risen to the challenge, providing virtual tours to their collections. In a challenging time, these virtual tours offer a ways to stay entertained and connected to the city’s incredible cultural offerings. Below, find a list of what’s available from various museums in Berlin.
Virtual tour through the Kupferstichkabinett
The Kupferstichkabinett houses a universe of "art on paper" with masterpieces ranging from Sandro Botticelli to Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Adolph Menzel and Vincent van Gogh, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Pablo Picasso to Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter.
With its treasures, it is a central site of artistic ideas, images and expressions of Europe and the world cultures associated with Europe. It houses works spanning 1,000 years of art, cultural and media history from the Middle Ages to the present. The museum's collection includes some 550,000 prints and 110,000 drawings, watercolors, pastels and oil sketches. The Kupferstichkabinett collects European and, more recently, international drawings and prints. In addition, there are illuminated, i.e. decorated with paintings, splendid manuscripts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, books with artists' graphics, portfolio works, sketchbooks, topographical views and printing plates. As a museum of the graphic arts, it is the collection, competence and exhibition center of the National Museums in Berlin for drawing and printmaking, book illumination and artistic book illustration. The Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) is the largest graphic arts collection in Germany and is one of the four most important museums of its kind in the world. <strong>Today we can "visit" the virtual Berlin museum with one mouse click!</strong>
Virtual walk through the Bode-Museum
Visitors can explore 35 rooms of Berlin's Bode-Museum virtually from their home. The virtual tour is stitched together by 62 photographs, each providing a 360° panorama. The virtual tour provides information on each of the 850 sculptures and paintings. An introductory video explains the platform and also demonstrates how to navigate through the virtual tour. I hope you enjoy the sculptures of the Bode-Museum as much as I do, as you can admired them virtually from your home.
Virtual tour through the Kunstgewerbemuseum
Several Berlin museums can be experienced via Google’s Arts & Culture platform, including the Kunstgewerbemuseum. In addition to providing a glimpse at these museums’ art collections, the platform also lets you explore their buildings (virtually).
One of my favorite museums is this one: The Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) is the oldest of its kind in Germany. It houses European arts and crafts, including unique reliquaries, magnificent vases and porcelain, extraordinary textiles and furniture. The museum at the Kulturforum was completed in 1985 to designs by Rolf Gutbrod. The virtual museum tour provides a overview of the key achievements in European design, from the Middle Ages to the present day. New features in the collection display include an extensive Fashion Gallery as well as the departments of Design and Jugendstil to Art Déco. Enjoy!
Virtual tour through the Gemäldegalerie
The Gallery of Paintings owns one of the world's most important collections of European painting from the 13th to the 18th century. Masterpieces from all periods of art history, including paintings by Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Dürer, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer van Delft are on display. The collection rooms are also classically proportioned. From the large Wandelhalle, a place of peace and contemplation with a fountain installation by Walter De Maria, it is always possible to return to the exhibition rooms and resume the walk through the collection. I hope you enjoy the virtual tour through this museum in Berlin.
Virtual tour through the Museum der Kommunikation
The Museum für Kommunikation Berlin brings the past and the future under one roof: With its permanent exhibition, it makes the origins, development and future prospects of the information society tangible and understandable. Attractive temporary exhibitions focus on the various aspects of communication. The museum sees itself as a place of encounter, exchange, entertainment, in short: communication. The focus is on the changed way of dealing with signs, codes and media and the resulting changes in private and public life.
More virtual experiences in Berlin museums and more:
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