Whether it’s an Easter stroll through Potsdam’s palace landscape, a medieval brunch or a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Spring Festival: Berlin’s calendar of events is a colourful and packed affair over the Easter holidays. Visit the State Opera’s festive celebrations, hunt for very special Easter eggs at the Olympic Stadium, or paint your own at the Easter festival in the Open-Air Museum. And on Good Friday, a wonderful Easter tradition awaits you at Berlin Cathedral with Bach!
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Tip 1: Enjoy Easter at the Berlin State Opera’s festive celebrations
In keeping with the occasion, Berlin’s classical music scene is also in a festive mood over the Easter holidays. Every year, just in time for Easter, the Berlin State Opera’s Easter Festival brings international classical stars to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Philharmonie am Potsdamer Platz. As always, the centrepiece of the festival is the Staatskapelle Berlin, accompanied by numerous soloists and performing both classical and modern works. The programme for the Easter weekend features Strauss’s *Der Rosenkavalier*, Verdi’s *Un ballo in maschera* and a special concert on Good Friday. This concert will be conducted by Christian Thielemann. He succeeded Daniel Barenboim as General Music Director in 2024 and will conduct Johannes Brahms’s *Requiem*, Op. 45, on this evening.
When: Friday at 8 pm, Saturday and Monday at 7 pm, Sunday at 5 pm
Where: Philharmonie Berlin, Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, Tiergarten
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Unter den Linden 7, Mitte
Festivities at the Berlin State Opera
Tip 2: Take a last-minute trip to the eternal ice with ClimateXtremes – Polar Experience
How cold is it really at the poles? Who lives at the South Pole again – penguins or polar bears? And: How can polar habitats be protected as the ice continues to retreat? You don’t have to go on a polar expedition to find the answers to these questions.
An immersive exhibition awaits you at Arena Berlin – so you’ll be right in the thick of it – focusing on the Arctic and Antarctic. ClimateXtremes – Polar Experience is based on scientific findings from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and takes you on an interactive journey into the eternal ice. Cold facts are presented in a vivid and family-friendly way – and it’s only on until Monday!
When: Friday to Monday from 10 am to 8 pm
Where: Arena Berlin, Eichenstraße 4, Alt-Treptow
Tip 3: Take a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Berlin Spring Festival
Take in the springtime views of Berlin from the dizzying heights of the Ferris wheel whilst munching on candyfloss? It doesn’t get much more romantic than this over the Easter weekend. At the Berlin Spring Festival in Wedding, a whopping 85 rides, plenty of fairground treats and many other attractions await you. From the classic tombola and tin can alley to duck fishing, there’s something for everyone.
And if bumper cars and the XXL swing ride Tiki Taki aren’t fast enough for you, you can take your adrenaline rush to new heights this year: the brand-new, 80-metre-high Gravity Tower is making its debut – it’s considered the world’s tallest mobile free-fall tower. Entry to the Spring Festival is free again this year! The carousels will be closed on Good Friday. To make up for this, the fair will be open on Easter Monday.
When: Saturday from 2 pm to 11 pm, Sunday from 1 pm to 11 pm and Monday from 1 pm to 10 pm
Where: Zentraler Festplatz Berlin, Kurt-Schumacher-Damm 207, Wedding
Tip 4: Join in the grand season opening at the Berlin Olympic Stadium
There’s plenty to discover in the main stand of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium this weekend: a goal wall, mini football pitches, the famous blue sprint track, Hertha’s mascot Herthinho – and 50 Easter eggs hidden throughout the stadium every day.
The lucky finders can look forward to more than just chocolate. The Olympic Easter eggs contain special prizes. These include, for example, tickets for the summer concert series at the Olympic Stadium, vouchers for tours or tickets for Hertha matches. Tickets for the grand season opener are heavily discounted over the Easter weekend. The perfect opportunity, then, to explore an institution of sporting history up close!
When: Friday to Monday from 9 am to 7 pm
Where: Berlin Olympic Stadium, Olympischer Platz 3, Westend
Season opening at the Olympic Stadium Berlin
Tip 5: Take a three-hour boat trip from Treptow to Lake Müggelsee
Even at Easter, Berlin’s boat service doesn’t take a break and invites you to come aboard at Treptower Park. The journey begins at the jetty, passing Köpenick Palace, the Insel der Jugend and Köpenick Town Hall, all the way to the picturesque Müggelsee. Berlin’s largest lake – no, it’s not the Wannsee – is always worth a visit and offers the perfect opportunity to relax in green surroundings where the big city draws to a close.
If you’d like to linger a while at this view, there’s no need to worry about being stranded on the shores of Lake Müggelsee forever: if you choose the 11 am departure, you can continue your journey later on the next boat. Hop-on, hop-off on Berlin’s waterways!
When: Friday to Monday at 11 am and 3 pm
Where: Treptow Harbour jetty, Puschkinallee 15, Treptow
Tip 6: Travel back to the Middle Ages at the Easter Knights’ Festival at the Citadel
A journey back in time at Easter? Why not, actually, as you can also enjoy an Easter brunch at the 19th Easter Knights’ Festival at Spandau Citadel. This fits in well, given that many of our modern Easter customs have their origins in the Middle Ages. Swap the Prosecco for a mug of mead, grab a piece of Easter cake and let yourself be enchanted by the colourful hustle and bustle around you.
After all, the entertainment programme is impressive even by 21st-century standards: Celtic music, knightly combat with swords and maces, jousting tournaments on horseback, and, as the grand finale in the evening, a fire-and-horse show by the Knights of Heimdall’s Heirs.
When: Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10 am to 7 pm
Where: Spandau Citadel, Am Juliusturm 64, Spandau
Easter Knights’ Festival at the Citadel
Tip 7: Stroll through the huge flea market at the Karlshorst trotting track
With the first rays of sunshine in April, over 600 stallholders dust off their treasures and bring what is perhaps Berlin’s most popular flea market back to the Karlshorst Trotting Track. Antique furniture, jewellery, art, quirky second-hand items, stamps, records, photographs and much more – here you’ll find an enormous wealth of what past decades and centuries had to offer.
And as the market falls on the Easter weekend, the festivities are naturally a must: on Sunday from 3 pm, it’s time to hunt for Easter eggs, and from 6 pm the big Easter bonfire will be blazing. Go-kart fun and pony rides for the little ones round off the programme – how fitting!
When: Saturday to Monday from 9 am to 5 pm, Easter bonfire on Sunday from 6 pm to 8 pm
Where: Karlshorst Trotting Track, Treskowallee 129, Karlshorst
Huge flea market at the Karlshorst Trotting Track
Tip 8: Stroll through Potsdam’s palace landscape
Sanssouci Palace, Charlottenhof Palace, the Flatow Tower in Babelsberg Park, and so on and so forth: the high concentration of parks and magnificent buildings is unique worldwide. These gems right on Berlin’s doorstep make a trip to our neighbouring city a unique experience, and it is no coincidence that large parts of them have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
With the sanssouci+ day ticket, you have access for a whole day to selected palaces and gardens, which are practically right next to one another. Look forward to a sunny Easter stroll in the April sunshine.
When: Friday to Monday during the respective opening hours
Where: Selected palaces and gardens in Potsdam
Tip 9: Let yourself be uplifted by Bach and the great Sauer organ in the cathedral on Good Friday
The great Sauer organ in Berlin Cathedral is one of the most impressive instruments in Berlin’s churches. With 7,269 pipes and 113 stops, it was even the largest organ in Germany when it was commissioned in 1905. On Good Friday, cathedral organist Andreas Sieling will play works by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Sauer organ; for many music lovers, Bach’s music is an essential part of the Easter programme.
In the Christian faith, Good Friday is a day of prayer and reflection: beneath the impressive dome of Berlin Cathedral, this is exactly what is possible on Friday afternoon, before the hustle and bustle of the Easter celebrations begins at the weekend.
When: Doors open on Friday from 4.30 pm, concert starts at 5 pm
Where: Berlin Cathedral, Am Lustgarten 1, Mitte
Tip 10: Celebrate a medieval Easter at the Open-Air Museum
Alongside Spandau Citadel, the Düppel Museum Village also offers a journey back to the Middle Ages over the Easter weekend. Here, the atmosphere is less combative than at the Spandau Knights’ Festival. The popular open-air museum is renowned for its excellent children’s programme and enchants young visitors over the Easter holidays with colourful stalls, crafts and hands-on activities.
Build ships from natural materials, paint Easter eggs, swing a hammer over an open fire and listen to the tales and legends from the travelling puppet theatre ‘Vom kleinen Volke’. For the adults, there is fresh mead, and there’s plenty of bread on a stick to go round. A day in the fresh air that will be remembered by young and old alike!
When: Friday to Monday, from 10 am
Where: Düppel Open-Air Museum, Clauertstraße 11, Nikolassee
Tip 11: Marvel at magical Easter surprises at MAGICUM
When you think about it, Easter, with the resurrection of Jesus, is probably the most magical Christian festival. The MAGICUM Berlin magic museum is therefore a perfectly logical destination for an Easter outing. Whilst no miracles will occur here, perhaps the Easter Bunny will hop out of the top hat.
In the Easter magic workshop corner at MAGICUM, they’ll at least be giving it a go this weekend, and you can join in as apprentice magicians. Visit the big magic show and learn the clever tricks yourself, so you can conjure Easter eggs straight out of the nest at the next opportunity.
When: Friday, Sunday and Monday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday from 11am to 7pm
Where: MAGICUM – Berlin Magic Museum, Große Hamburger Straße 17, Mitte
