Berlin

===Galleries and museums===
{{Main list|List of museums and galleries in Berlin}}

[[File:JewishMuseumBerlin.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Jewish Museum Berlin|Jewish Museum]] presents two millennia of [[German Jews|German–Jewish history]].]]

{{As of|2011}} Berlin is home to 138 museums and more than 400 art galleries.<ref name="berlin.de"/>
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://service.zitty.de/kultur-kunst/14539/ |title=Sprung in die Wolken |website=Zitty |date=2 July 2008 |access-date=19 August 2008 |language=de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402162248/https://service.zitty.de/kultur-kunst/14539/ |archive-date=2 April 2012}}</ref> The ensemble on the [[Museum Island]] is a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]] and is in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben.<ref name=UNESCO/> As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the [[Altes Museum]] was built in the Lustgarten. The [[Neues Museum]], which displays the [[Nefertiti Bust|bust of Queen Nefertiti]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.expatica.com/nl/egypt-battling-for-more-relics-after-louvre-success/|title=Egypt battling for more relics after Louvre success|publisher=Expatica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709211530/https://www.expatica.com/nl/egypt-battling-for-more-relics-after-louvre-success/|archive-date=9 July 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=9 July 2019}}</ref> [[Alte Nationalgalerie]], [[Pergamon Museum]], and [[Bode Museum]] were built there.

Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The [[Gemäldegalerie, Berlin|Gemäldegalerie]] (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while the [[Neue Nationalgalerie]] (New National Gallery, built by [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]]) specializes in 20th-century European painting. The [[Hamburger Bahnhof]], in [[Moabit]], exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. The expanded [[Deutsches Historisches Museum]] reopened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history spanning more than a millennium. The [[Bauhaus Archive]] is a museum of 20th-century design from the famous [[Bauhaus]] school. [[Museum Berggruen]] houses the collection of noted 20th century collector [[Heinz Berggruen]], and features an extensive assortment of works by [[Picasso]], [[Matisse]], [[Cézanne]], and [[Giacometti]], among others.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/arts/dealer-will-enrich-art-of-the-berlin-he-fled.html|title=Dealer Will Enrich Art of the Berlin He Fled|last=Vogel|first=Carol|date=21 December 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=28 December 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=21 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321180644/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/arts/dealer-will-enrich-art-of-the-berlin-he-fled.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Kupferstichkabinett Berlin|Kupferstichkabinett]] Berlin (Museum of Prints and Drawings) is part of the [[Berlin State Museums|Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin]] (Berlin State Museums) and the [[Kulturforum|Kulturforum at Potsdamer Platz]] in the Tiergarten district of Berlin's Mitte district. It is the largest museum of the graphic arts in Germany and at the same time one of the four most important collections of its kind in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kupferstichkabinett |url=https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/kupferstichkabinett/about-us/profile/ |website=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |access-date=4 August 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124201004/https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/kupferstichkabinett/about-us/profile/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The collection includes [[Friedrich Gilly]]'s design for the monument to Frederick II of Prussia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tillack-Graf |first=Anne-Kathleen |title=Das Denkmal für Friedrich den Großen von Friedrich Gilly 1796 |year=2004 |location=Munich |language=de}}</ref>

[[File:Ishtar Gate at Berlin Museum.jpg|thumb|The reconstructed [[Ishtar Gate]] of Babylon at the [[Pergamon Museum]] ]]

The [[Jewish Museum Berlin|Jewish Museum]] has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/01-Exhibitions/exhibitions.php|title=Exhibitions|website=[[Jewish Museum Berlin]]|access-date=10 August 2008|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090714235317/http%3A//www%2Ejuedisches%2Dmuseum%2Dberlin%2Ede/site/EN/01%2DExhibitions/exhibitions%2Ephp|archive-date=14 July 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[German Museum of Technology (Berlin)|German Museum of Technology]] in [[Kreuzberg]] has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The ''[[Natural History Museum, Berlin|Museum für Naturkunde]]'' (Berlin's [[natural history museum]]) exhibits [[natural history]] near [[Berlin Hauptbahnhof]]. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a ''[[Giraffatitan]]'' skeleton). A well-preserved specimen of ''[[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' and the early bird ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' are at display as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de/en/ausstellungen/the-world-of-dinosaurs.html?Fsize=0&Lightversion=0%3Ftypo%3D2%3Ftypo%3D1%3Ftypo%3D0 |title=The World of Dinosaurs |publisher=Naturkundemuseum-berlin.de |date=20 October 2011 |access-date=7 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322182246/https://www.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de/en/ausstellungen/the-world-of-dinosaurs.html?Fsize=0&Lightversion=0%3Ftypo=2%3Ftypo=1%3Ftypo=0 |archive-date=22 March 2012}}</ref>

In [[Dahlem (Berlin)|Dahlem]], there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the [[Museum of Asian Art]], the [[Ethnological Museum of Berlin|Ethnological Museum]], the [[Museum Europäischer Kulturen|Museum of European Cultures]], as well as the [[Allied Museum]]. The [[Brücke Museum]] features one of the largest collection of works by artist of the early 20th-century expressionist movement. In [[Lichtenberg]], on the grounds of the former [[Stasi|East German Ministry for State Security]], is the [[Stasi Museum]]. The site of [[Checkpoint Charlie]], one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved. A private [[Checkpoint Charlie Museum|museum venture]] exhibits a comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East.

The [[Beate Uhse Erotic Museum]] claimed to be the largest erotic museum in the world until it closed in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/index/stories/beck04181999.htm |title=In Berlin, the Art of Sex |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 April 1999 |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-date=9 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309164157/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/index/stories/beck04181999.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Erotikmuseum aus dem Verkehr gezogen |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/beate-uhse-in-berlin-charlottenburg-erotikmuseum-aus-dem-verkehr-gezogen/10305782.html |newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online |language=de |access-date=4 August 2022 |archive-date=4 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804031411/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/beate-uhse-in-berlin-charlottenburg-erotikmuseum-aus-dem-verkehr-gezogen/10305782.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The cityscape of Berlin displays large quantities of urban [[street art]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visitberlin.de/en/see/museums-art/street-art|title=Berlin – Urban Art – visitBerlin.de EN|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031125131/https://www.visitberlin.de/en/see/museums-art/street-art|archive-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> It has become a significant part of the city's cultural heritage and has its roots in the graffiti scene of [[Kreuzberg]] of the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/travel/02headsup.html|title=One Wall Down, Thousands to Paint|date=2 March 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 February 2017|archive-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118004829/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/travel/02headsup.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Berlin Wall graffiti art|Berlin Wall]] itself has become one of the largest open-air canvasses in the world.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/apr/03/thierry-noir-graffiti-berlin-wall|title=Graffiti in the death strip: the Berlin wall's first street artist tells his story|website=The Guardian|date=3 April 2014|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201142426/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/apr/03/thierry-noir-graffiti-berlin-wall|url-status=live}}</ref> The leftover stretch along the Spree river in [[Friedrichshain]] remains as the [[East Side Gallery]]. Berlin today is consistently rated as an important world city for street art culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/best-street-art-cities_n_5155653.html|title=The 26 Best Cities in the World To See Street Art|date=17 April 2014|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=21 November 2015|archive-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122073932/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/best-street-art-cities_n_5155653.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Berlin has galleries which are quite rich in contemporary art. Located in Mitte, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, KOW, Sprüth Magers; Kreuzberg there are a few galleries as well such as Blain Southern, [[Esther Schipper]], Future Gallery, König Gallerie.