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The star exhibit in the Egyptian Museum, currently in the Altes Museum, is the mysteriously beautiful bust of Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaton. The long-necked limestone bust, discovered in 1912, probably served as a model. Also worth seeing is the “Berlin Green Head”, a small bust from the 4th century BC. The museum also holds numerous mummies, sarcophagi, murals and sculptures.

The Old National Gallery, built by Friedrich August Stüler in 1866–76 on the Museumsinsel, has been completely restored. Today it holds a collection of 19th-century (and mainly German) paintings, including works by Adolf von Menzel, Wilhelm Leibl, Max Liebermann and Arnold Böcklin. The gallery also has sculptures by Schadow, Rauch and Reinhold Begas.

Few schools have exercised as much influence on 20th-century architecture and design as the Bauhaus, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. On show in the museum are furniture, sketches, everyday objects and paintings.

Huge collections of mostly German, east European and Russian painters, photographers, graphic designers and architects from the 20th century, such as Baselitz, Grosz and Kirchner.

A unique collection of Art-Nouveau and Art-Deco objects from around Europe is on display at this small museum. Also an exhibition of paintings by Berlin artists.

The five museums based in southern Berlin are a fantastic resource of exotic cultures. Four museums are devoted to Far Eastern, Indian, North American and African art, from prehistory to the present day. Among the star exhibits are bronzes from Benin and Japanese woodcuts. The Ethnologisches Museum (Museum of Ethnology), devoted to the cultures of the Pacific area, is equally impressive. Among its exhibits are gold treasures of the Inca (see Grunewald & Dahlem) .

Sponsored by the Deutsche Bank, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions, often showing modern art from the US (see Central Berlin: Unter den Linden) .

Germany’s largest History Museum uses unique exhibits, documents and films to take the visitor on a journey through German history, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Special exhibitions are devoted to particular themes (see pp12–5).

The fascinating Museum of Technology, on the site of a former station, has fascinating hands-on displays on the history of technology (see Kreuzberg & Schöneberg) .

Berlin’s best art museum, the Gemäldegalerie focuses on European art of the 13th to 19th centuries, such as Caravaggio’s Cupid Victorious , and works by Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens (see Gemäldegalerie) .