Berlin’s 3 hidden museums

While museums like the Jewish Museum, Pergamon or the Topography of Terror might get most of the tourist attention. In these three hidden museums you’ll find fewer queues and crowds, and you’ll leave feeling informed and captivated.

Ramones Museum
The Ramones Museum is a museum dedicated to the American punk rock. While the Ramones are most closely associated with their hometown of New York City, bassist Dee Dee Ramone grew up in Berlin, and the city, and Germany as a whole, was mentioned in numerous Ramones songs.

The museum has more than 500 objects of memorabilia originating from the band members themselves, including clothing, set lists, gear, and promotional items of the Ramones from the years 1975-1996.

Spy Museum

The German Spy Museum Berlin at Leipziger Platz allows you to explore the exciting universe of agents and the secret service. Using ARS ELECTRONICA’s state-of-the-art technology, you can experience a multi-media journey through the history of espionage.
On more than 200 high-resolution screens at seven stations about contemporary witnesses and five stations portraying spies as well as in four historic time frames, the visitor is involved in this ancient and continuously changing universe. Stories from near and far back in the past of espionage are being told in the Museum in more than 1.000 exhibits.

Gaslamp Museum

This open-air museum (Gaslaternen-Freilichtmuseum Berlin) was founded in 1978 at a time when electric lanterns were increasingly taking over the task of brightening Berlin’s streets. Today, the museum has over 90 gas lanterns – both originals and replicas – and boasts the most comprehensive collection of its kind in Europe.

The open-air museum is found in Berlin’s Tiergarten Park and is thus always accessible to visitors. As soon as dusk falls, the lanterns are switched on and light up the park’s paths with their warm yellow glow.

These off-the-beaten-track museums won’t stay secret for long, so get exploring!