The new year is still fresh and it's already the weekend again. Berlin is dressing up and spoiling you from Thursday to Sunday with the best New Year's activities you can dream of. A dynamic New Year's concert awaits you at the Konzerthaus, Sibylle Berg and Salome fill the theatres and Berlin's wellness temples open their doors for you.
Tip: On 4 January, as well as on every other first Sunday of the month, admission to the Spandau Citadel and all exhibitions there is free of charge!
Tip 1: Welcome 2026 with the New Year's concert at the Konzerthaus
Even the short walk across the Gendarmenmarkt to the Konzerthaus radiates New Year's feelings, because it is not without reason that it is considered the most beautiful square in Berlin. The festive atmosphere is perfect when the first notes of the New Year's Concert are heard in the Great Hall. Under the direction of Joana Mallwitz and with Pekka Kuusisto on the violin, Wagner's overture to the opera The Flying Dutchman makes a lively start. After the interval and a violin concerto by Bryce Dessner, pieces by Grieg, Mendelssohn and Smetana await you. With a musical experience like this to start the year, it can only be a good one!
When: Thursday at 4 pm
Where: Konzerthaus Berlin - Great Hall, Gendarmenmarkt, Mitte
Tip 2: Meet the New Year at the Berlin New Year's Run
If you want to put your New Year's resolutions into practice on the first of January, you can start at the Brandenburg Gate. The starting signal sounds here at 12 noon sharp and sends you on a four-kilometre athletic course to Berlin Cathedral. Charity is not neglected at the traditional Berlin New Year's Run either: instead of charging a fixed entry fee, the run is traditionally financed by donations. Your contributions go directly to people in need and thus enable others to have a dynamic start to the new year!
When: Thursday at 12 noon
Where: Brandenburg Gate, Mitte
Tip 3: Marvel at Asisi's panorama at Kupfergraben
Although the doors of the Pergamon Museum will remain closed for some time, you don't have to miss out on the unique magic of the ancient metropolis of Pergamon. The exhibition space: Pergamon Museum. The panorama is still open and brings antiquity into the 21st century in the new year.Eighty antique originals from the Pergamon Museum are staged here in a unique play of colour and light. The architect and artist Yadegar Asisi knows like no other how to fill past worlds with the spirit of life in his 360° panoramas.
When: Thursday from 12 to 6 pm, Friday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm
Where: Pergamonmuseum. The Panorama, Am Kupfergraben 2, Mitte
Tip 4: Look with a little light. And this peace into the future
The new theatre play by author Sibylle Berg strikes a critical note on New Year's Day. On the simply designed stage of the Berliner Ensemble, you can look into a future that is not so dissimilar to our present. War is raging in Europe, militarisation is part of everyday life and the fears and doubts of the individual are in danger of being drowned out by the political noise. Berg's text A Little Light is being staged. And this calm is performed by the young director Dennis Nolden and a single actor: Gabriel Schneider embodies the queer engineer drafted for military service and gives our era a unique expression.
When: Thursday at 7 pm
Where: Berliner Ensemble, Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, Mitte
Tip 5: Watch Salome dance at the Schiller Theatre
The biblical story of Salome, princess of Judea and daughter of King Herod, has been revived in numerous works of art over the centuries. Oscar Wilde's play, whichRichard Strauss set to music in 1891, is particularly famous. You can experience Salome for the last time this season on Saturday in director Evgeny Titov's production. As a projection screen for male fantasies, a faceless Nicole Chevalier tells the story of a young woman who asserts herself with murderous lust against the machinations of a man's world - with unrivalled vocal power and symbolic depth!
When: Saturday at 19:30
Where: Komische Oper Berlin @Schillertheater, Bismarckstraße 110, Charlottenburg
Tip 6: Go exploring in the Berlin Olympic Stadium
Since it was built for the 1936 Summer Olympics, Berlin's Olympic Stadium has seen a lot: around ninety years of sporting history with highlights, defeats and plenty of team spirit. Anyone interested can take a closer look this weekend. With a time slot ticket, you have independent access to the stadium grounds and can explore Hertha BSC's home ground at your leisure. Multimedia guides are also available to show you around the grounds and tell you interesting background facts.
When: Thursday to Sunday at different times
Where: Olympiastadion Berlin, Olympischer Platz 3, Westend
Tip 7: Listen to the Nirvana interpretations by Christoph Spannenberg
With hits such as Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are and The Man Who Sold the World, the US grunge rock band Nirvana is part of the canon. Their lyrics and unmistakable melodies live on to this day and have been covered by numerous musicians. One genre that may not be the first to spring to mind is classical music. And someone has now ventured into this area too: Berlin pianist Christoph Spangenberg has given numerous Nirvana songs a new guise and will be presenting them at the Philharmonie this weekend at Spangenberg plays Nirvana. On the solo piano, he honours one of the most influential bands in music history.
When: Saturday at 8 pm
Where: Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin, Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, Tiergarten
Tip 8: Die Wilde Renate stays - celebrate with us!
It's a Christmas miracle: the much-loved club in Friedrichshain, which announced its last party at the end of the year, is here to stay. A week ago, Renate posted the good news on Instagram. And the 86-hour New Year's Eve party will of course go ahead. You'll be dancing into the new year on six floors and with pretty much every subgenre of electronic music. For this special occasion, guests are even allowed to leave the club with a bottle of sparkling wine - to enjoy the fireworks on the Elsenbrücke!
When: Wednesday from 10 pm until Sunday at 10 am
Where: Renate, Alt-Stralau 7, Friedrichshain
Tip 9: Skate across Berlin's ice rinks
If the lakes and rivers around Berlin aren't completely frozen over, that's no reason to hang up your skates. Numerous ice rinks throughout the city invite you to enjoy a wintry - and safe - skating session. At Forest - Winterlights at the Dark Matter art venue, an ice rink awaits you under the installation of a poetic fairytale forest, in the Zenner Wintergarten you can do your laps in 1920s style right next to the Spree and a view of the water is also guaranteed at Rübezahl am Müggelsee. Add a hot punch to warm you up and your winter fun is perfect.
When: Thursday to Sunday at various times
Where: Various locations throughout Berlin
Tip 10: Treat yourself to winter wellness in the new year
Before the hustle and bustle of everyday life starts again, you have more than earned an extensive wellness day. Berlin's spa landscape is perfectly equipped for the occasion: Last year, we were even voted the best spa city in Germany. The vabali attracts visitors with 20,000 square metres of Balinese magic, in the Rummelsburger Bucht you can board the sauna raft and in the Liquidrom you can really unwind with relaxing underwater sounds. The Therme Luckenwalde or NaturTherme Templin also have an extra relaxing offer outside the city, which can be perfectly combined with a trip into the countryside - or perhaps even: white.
When: Thursday to Sunday at various opening times
Where: Various locations in and around Berlin
Tip 11: Make yourself comfortable on board the Spree steamer
Even in the winter months, a boat trip on the Spree is extremely tempting, especially when you can listen to exciting anecdotes about the city and enjoy delicious hot drinks. The historic boat tour through wintry Berlin takes you past the Nikolai Quarter, Berlin Cathedral, Museum Island and the Reichstag. For an hour, there is one highlight after another to marvel at. Snuggle up below deck or in the open air, let the fresh wind blow around your nose and sail into the New Year in a relaxed mood!
When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday at various departure times
Where: Stern & Kreis landing stage Friedrichstraße, Am Weidendamm 1, Mitte
