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He once came close to taking Berlin: in 1241, Genghis Khan and his hordes reached the gates of Berlin. The campaign remained in global memory as the “Mongol invasion.” But the troops surprisingly turned back before they reached Berlin. 784 years later, Genghis Khan is coming back and making it right into the center of Berlin – this time, however, without hordes of horsemen.

The founder of the Mongolian Empire will be the focus of a major exhibition on Museum Island, organized by the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the State Museums in Berlin. 2027 marks the 800th anniversary of Genghis Khan's death. He had formed the most powerful army of his time from the equestrian peoples of the East Asian steppe and founded the Mongol Empire at the beginning of the 13th century.

Exhibition from October 2026 to April 2027

The exhibition, featuring many exhibits that have never been shown before, will open in October 2026 and run until April 2027. It will be such a magnificent cultural event of cultural diplomacy that even the heads of state will attend the opening. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will receive Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh for a state visit. He will not arrive with a horde of horsemen, but by plane, and he will be welcomed not with fear, but with warmth.

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The exhibition displays pieces from half a millennium of equestrian nomadic life in a diversity never seen before. Archaeological treasures from Mongolia are complemented by loans from Poland and Romania, as well as from the German Historical Museum, the Berlin State Library, and other collections of the State Museums.

“The results of Mongolian-German research over the last two decades will revise and expand our ideas about the Mongol Empire in many ways,” promises Matthias Wemhoff, director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History at the State Museums in Berlin, who is the overall manager of the exhibition project. The curators of the exhibition are Jan Bemmann (University of Bonn) as well as Heino Neumayer, Anton Gass and Benjamin Wehry (Museum of Prehistory and Early History).

Ambassador reception on Museum Island

In order to prepare Berlin and its international community for the show right now, the 863rd birthday of Genghis Khan was celebrated these days. Numerous ambassadors had accepted the invitation from Professor Wemhoff and Ambassador Mandakhbileg Birvaa to the James Simon Gallery on Museum Island.

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There, at the reception, rumors circulated that the Mongolian head of mission might not be attending the opening and state visit in fall 2026 in his capacity as ambassador, but rather as an accompanying official to the president. He has represented Mongolia for four years. Mandakhbileg Birvaa is a veritable expert on Germany and speaks perfect German. He studied law at the University of Leipzig in the GDR. After German reunification, he did an internship at the German Bundestag in Bonn before earning his doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Since joining the Mongolian diplomatic service, he has repeatedly performed duties related to Germany. The preparations for the Genghis Khan exhibition are certainly among the most enjoyable tasks of his term of office.

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