The Neues Museum

The Neues Museum is the most visited museum on Museum Island while the Pergamon is closed, and the reason is a single object: the painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti, wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten, made more than 3,300 years ago and found in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose at Amarna in 1912 by a German excavation. With her tall blue crown, long neck and calm gaze, she is one of the most famous faces in the world, and she stands alone in the round north dome room on the first level, lit so softly that the room feels like a shrine. Photography is not allowed in her room, although you can catch her from the doorway of the neighbouring rooms. The rest of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection is outstanding too, from the portraits of the Amarna royal family and the delicate head of Queen Tiye to sarcophagi, papyri and everyday objects from the Nile. The Museum of Prehistory and Early History fills other floors, with the Berlin Gold Hat, a cone of thin gold covered in astronomical symbols from the Bronze Age, objects from Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and the Neanderthal skull from Le Moustier. The building itself is part of the experience. Designed by Friedrich August Stueler and opened in 1855, it was bombed in the Second World War and left as a ruin through the decades of division. The British architect David Chipperfield rebuilt it, reopening in 2009, by keeping every surviving fragment of fresco, column and scorched wall and filling the gaps with plain modern brick and concrete, so that the scars of history remain visible. The great staircase hall is one of the most moving spaces in Berlin. Expect a single ticket in the low to mid teens in euros, or use the Museum Island day ticket, and book a timed slot in advance.

Seeing Nefertiti well: she is at her quietest in the first hour after opening and in the last hour before closing, when the tour groups have gone. Go straight up to the north dome, spend as long as you like, then work back through the Amarna rooms, which give the context of the revolutionary reign of Akhenaten, when art suddenly became more natural and intimate. There is a long-running debate about whether the bust should be returned to Egypt, and the museum is open about the history of how it came to Berlin, which adds a layer of reflection to the visit. The audio guide is good and worth taking, and the labels are in German and English.

Beyond the queen: give at least an hour to the rest of the building. The Greek Courtyard and the Egyptian Courtyard, with their modern inserts inside the old walls, the dramatic main staircase, and the original painted ceilings that survived the war make the Neues Museum a lesson in how to treat a ruin. The Berlin Gold Hat, displayed in a darkened room, is one of the strangest and most beautiful objects in any European museum, and families often find the prehistoric rooms, with their tools, skulls and reconstructions, more engaging than the art galleries elsewhere on the island.

Logistics: the museum is entered through the James Simon Gallery, which connects to it underground, or through its own historic entrance on Bodestrasse. Single tickets and the Museum Island day ticket both use timed entry for the Neues Museum; in high season and around holidays, the best times can be gone days in advance. Most of the island closes on Mondays. The nearest stations are Hackescher Markt and Friedrichstrasse on the S-Bahn, or Museumsinsel on the U5. Combine it with the Altes Museum next door for a classical double bill, or with the Alte Nationalgalerie for a change of pace.