Christmas Eve at the Bode

If you've had your fill of Christmas Markets and sloshing around banks of snow to get your mitts around some Glühwein or Bratwurst, you're probably ready for a change of pace on Christmas Eve.

This is the best day on which to visit one of Berlin's museums, a few of which -- like the Bode Museum at the Museum Island -- are open till 2 p.m. Finally, you will have the beautiful art and opulent interior spaces all to yourself. There couldn't be a better time than the morning of Christmas Eve to take in the Bode Museum's collection of Byzantine art, leaving the last-minute shoppers and madding crowd far behind.

photo: Gunnar Bach Pedersen/Wikimedia Commons

After that, you have time to stroll down Oranienburgerstrasse and later, to stop by the Sophienkirche, which has a live manger scene, beginning at 4.30 p.m., and a sacred music program at 6 p.m.

Merry Christmas!

See Spiegel Online's photo gallery on the Bode Museum here.

The Bode Museum is at the Musuem Island, on Am Kupfergraben 1. The nearest subway is S and U Friedrichstr. or Bus 100 or 200 (stop: Staatsoper).

The Sophienkirche is at Hackescher Markt, on Große Hamburgerstr. 29. The nearest subway is U Weinmeisterstr.