North America Indian teepee, the world's oldest surviving kayak (1577), Masks of the Northwest Coast Indians, wooden bird masks, decorated moccasins and other textiles South America Ceramics and objects of gold, silver and wood, as well as the art of the Inca Indians of Mexico, gods and war figures, masks, jewelry, vessels and textiles from Peru and Bolivia, everyday objects of the Indians of the Amazon, head trophies from Brazil Africa Plastic arts with masks and figures from all parts of Africa, for example, Religious figure "Nduda" from Yombe / Zaire (19th century), sculptures and weapons from West Africa, silver handicrafts from Ethiopia, body jewelry from South Africa, ivories and bronzes from Guinea Islamic Arts and Cultures The Collection of Islamic Arts and Cultures encompasses around 20,000 objects of material culture not only from Islamic societies, but also from Christian and Jewish societies, from Southeast Europe, North Africa, West Asia as well as Central and Southwest Asia.

In addition, it contains pre-Islamic archaeological objects from ancient southern Arabia and from Luristan in western Iran as well as ethnographica from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, e.g. from the Hindu Kush (Nuristan Collection).

Masterpieces of Islamic art from Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq and Moghul India demonstrate the wealth of artistic creativity.

In addition to medieval Islamic pottery, architectural elements and Persian and Moghul book illustrations, examples include a silver-inlaid brass plate made in the 13th century for Badr al-Din Lu'lu', the ruler of Mossul, Iraq, and a bronze casting vessel in the shape of a deer from the Egyptian Fatimid period (10th/11th century).

South Asia Colourful Indian deities, E.G. Nandi statue from India, Kapardin fragment of the Buddha (2nd century AD), Buddha heads of sandstone, statues of Shiva and Krishna East Asia Chinese wood sculptures, sitting on the world throne Buddha Amitabha, ivory model of a pagoda from the Chinese emperor, Ornate carvings from China, Japan and Indonesia Oceania Polynesian bar deity (Cook Islands), Melanesian paddle showing a fishing scene, Malangan figure from Melanesia, Arms and shields from Australia In April 2019, work began to return more than 50 ancestral remains from five different German institutes, starting with a ceremony at the Five Continents Museum.