Bode Museum, originally named for Kaiser Friedrich and since renamed for a former director, as part of a post-War renovation and reconfiguration. Although the other museums are adjacent, they don’t connect easily; the Bode is built right onto the water, without accommodation for a path. So we crossed the river north to a local neighborhood and approached the museum from the other side of the Spree. (Note: now I see that the Bode suggests coming from the south-west instead.) It is a grand building, somehow much larger from the inside than the outside, under-attended, and with many small galleries off long hallways, and a variety of collections, all including far too many images of Madonna and Child. Traffic flow was a bit weird; entrances to galleries hard to find. Minimal cafe, but great location for it.

The Bode Museum is an exhibition of Byzantine art. Byzantine art focuses on the expression of religion, specifically orthodox Christianity and the images exhibited were very much controlled by the church when produced. If region is not an interest for you then this museum may not be your thing. I kind of fit into that category as I visited without researching beforehand. I did however think this was an amazing building, with great organisation and it wasn’t packed with tourists (probably because it was January). I spent my visit looking at the expressions posed by the subjects of the sculptures and paintings. Some of which were quite serious, beautiful, ugly old and young . A few that were probably unintentionally comical but that might be my twisted humour! My advice research before visiting.

Beautiful museum: the architecture & the collections are worth to see, especially if you’re a fan of, well, sculptures, Byzantine art, medieval, gothic & baroque art, coins- there is just SO MUCH to see. I went specifically to this museum for the project “The Second Glance” and was quite surprised by it. It is a museum which really tries to stay in touch with contemporary society I would say, especially in comparison to other museums as old as this one. So, concluding: would definitely go again.

Lots of sculptures and religious (catholic/christian mostly) art work. They do offer audio guides which are helpful. I enjoyed browsing and listening to the audio guide. It’s a pretty quiet place, so probably not great for young kids.