Computerspielemuseum

Located on Karl-Marx-Allee in Friedrichshain, the world's first museum for digital game culture resides, and the contrast couldn't be more fitting: GDR prefab charm outside, gaming history inside. Over six decades of computer games are tangible, playable, and surprisingly touching here, spread across more than 300 exhibits.

The Computer Games Museum in Friedrichshain: Pixel Nostalgia Across 300 Exhibits

Anyone who believes museums are places of reverent silence will quickly be proven wrong here. The Computer Games Museum opened in Berlin in 1997 as the world’s first permanent exhibition on digital interactive entertainment culture. Today, it boasts one of Europe’s largest collections of video games, consoles, and specialized magazines, and since 2011, the permanent exhibition has been housed in the former Café Warschau in Friedrichshain.

Play, Don’t Just Watch: What the Computer Games Museum Offers

The most curious thing about this curious museum is that you are actually allowed to get hands-on here. Of the more than 300 exhibits, over 30 can be played and tried out. Right at the entrance, the “Wall of Hardware” chronologically arranges hardware exhibits like the first computers and various game consoles in display cases. Those who delve deeper will discover true rarities.

Highlights include the GDR game machine Poly-Play, the PainStation, Pong, and the legendary Nimrod from 1951, considered one of the first game computers, which still calculates with 480 vacuum tubes. Alongside this, the Arcade Hall showcases numerous retro games like Space Invaders or Asteroids, which can be played on original coin-operated machines.

Living Rooms of the Past and Current Special Exhibitions

The recreated living rooms are particularly fitting: starting in the 1950s, gaming culture beyond consoles can be explored, such as Pong in the 1970s, Space Invaders in the 1980s, and Super Mario in the 1990s, each in authentically furnished rooms. Furthermore, a new special exhibition awaits from December 2025: “A Fantastic Failure” is dedicated to courage, innovation, and gaming dreams, including Nokia’s failed attempt to turn the mobile phone into a game console with the N-Gage.

The museum is open daily from 10 AM to 8 PM, admission is 11 Euros, reduced 7 Euros. The Weberwiese U5 station is directly accessible at the museum, whether from Frankfurter Tor or Alexanderplatz. A visit is therefore worthwhile both logistically and in terms of content, for all who want not just to read about game history, but also to experience it.