Neue Nationalgalerie — Attraction in Berlin

First the cashier told us that there are no reduced tickets for students, even though it is written that there is a reduction for students. Then we were told we needed to check our jackets in the wardrobe, which we did and were given one token for two jackets by the attendant. When we returned for our jackets after the exhibition the attendant returned only one jacket to us, when we asked for the second jacket a different attendant (who acted as though he may have been a manager) intervened and told us we cannot store two jackets with one token. We informed him that we were only given one token by the attendant, to which we replied that we had created a „dangerous“ situation. Luckily he handed us our second jacket from under the Theke and we promptly left, that type of nonsense merits no response. Unfortunately this was not the worst nor first case of unprofessionalism I have experienced at the national museums, therefore I no longer purchase a yearly membership like I did for many years (see my review of the Pergamon museum).

As for the exhibitions, the permanent collection is organized chronologically, beginning with post-war modernism and progressing to contemporary performance and video art. The curators divide the periods thematically, which indeed gave an interesting overview of how art and public discourse interact and evolve. However the curators interventions seemed more congratulatory than critical. From example the section themed „self-identification“ might have explicitly drawn a connection to the complicity of art in the escalating demands of a capitalist society that celebrates unencumbered individualism to the detriment of civic engagement. Instead it merely gestured limply to the rise of feminism.

The Gerhard Richter exhibition was similarly uncritical. There are little curatorial mediation and I found the juxtaposition of archival photographs documenting the atrocities of Auschwitz-Birkenau with Richters self-masturbatory abstract expressionist works to be highly distasteful. Richter is the highest-selling, living artist. What justifies capitalizing on one of the worst crimes in modern history?

Anyway, I will continue my boycott of Berlin‘s state museums and I will feel completely justified in my decision. Potential visitors ought to consider following suit. It is not worth the harassment...

We bought our tickets online, and there was no mention of any dress code or clothing restrictions on the website. I’ve visited many museums in Germany, such as Museum Ludwig in Cologne and K20/K21 in Düsseldorf, always wearing long coats without any problem. However, our experience at the Neue Nationalgalerie was completely different.

The first exhibition, went smoothly, and we were able to enter without any issues. However, in the next two exhibition halls, I was stopped by a staff member who insisted I remove my coat because it was “too long.” I was wearing a clubbing outfit underneath, and I felt it would be inappropriate to walk around in just that, so I wore the long coat to maintain respectability.

We were told to leave the second and third exhibition halls because of my coat, despite having entered the first exhibition without any problem. When we asked for clarification, the staff member only gave short, repetitive answers, and their behavior was dismissive and unhelpful. It wasn’t just the communication barrier that frustrated me—it was the clear sense of being treated differently.

What made me feel even more uncomfortable was how they treated my boyfriend, who is of darker skin tone. Initially, I was asking the questions, but the staff member was reluctant to give clear answers, possibly because my English is better, though my German isn’t as fluent. So, I asked my boyfriend to help, thinking that might get a better response. Unfortunately, his questions were met with the same poor attitude and lack of respect.

The staff’s behavior toward both of us made it feel like we were being singled out, and I can’t help but wonder if this had to do with our race. My boyfriend and I are both left feeling that we were treated unfairly because of our appearance. It wasn’t just about the coat—it was about how we were treated as people, and it made the whole experience feel uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

We decided to leave without visiting the rest of the exhibitions because of how we were treated. It was disappointing, and I strongly feel that racial discrimination played a role in how we were handled. This was an experience that not only ruined our visit but also left us...

Impressive building by Mies van der Rohe, recently restored. The Isa Genzken exhibition was well done, and a free booklet and map were provided which helped me appreciate the philosophy and techniques involved in the artist's work, which has evolved over many decades. I enjoyed the elliptical and hyperbolic art from the 1960s, and the Covid-19 Nefertiti, but was less impressed by the hanging chairs with stickers and cellophane wraps.

The rooms which normally exhibit a sample of the museum's impressive in-house collection ("Sammlung") - following a rotation system for the lesser known works and artists - was closed for refurbishment/rearrangement when I visited in late October 2023, during the same week when the Pergamon Museum closed. Indications that "the collection is closed" on the website were hard to fathom without further explanation of what is meant by "the collection".

I was a bit disappointed that a big section of the museum was closed given that some of the other important state museums in Berlin were closed or partly closed for refurbishment at the same time (not to mention the Pergamon which had been fully booked for weeks until its decades-long closure). I thought the end of October could be a good time to visit museums in Berlin but the curators seem to think differently. Given that these museums belong to the same agency, they could have coordinated a staggered plan for the closures.

I was also a bit annoyed that, though I had booked a timeslot well in advance, I needed to wait in line to enter with the people who had just acquired their tickets on the spot. Maybe this was due to the fact that I visited on a Thursday evening with extended hours when a German car company was sponsoring free tickets. But what's the point in asking people to get a separate (free) timeslot ticket (besides the regular museum entry ticket) using a complicated online box office procedure, if you don't sort out the visitors at the...