Friedrichstadt-Palast

The main auditorium, which can seat nearly 1900, is the largest show palace in Europe – and for that very special night out, also offers the sheer luxury of the Wall Sky Lounge complete with private bar. The Palast shows feature stunning dance routines with an ensemble totalling 60 dancers – including the world’s longest line of showgirls. To produce these breathtaking grand shows requires a full team. From dancers to musicians, acrobats, sound engineers, set construction and stage technicians as well as administrative staff, over 300 people are working on and behind the stage.

ARISE Grand Show

Let yourself be enchanted by magnificent images, rousing artistry and a story about hope and the power of love. ARISE is a show of superlatives on the largest theater stage in the world and at the same time a moving love story. ARISE . Grand Show . Grand Emotions . 

The grand shows – dance, music, and acrobatics

The shows create spectacular collages of music, dance and acrobatics with up to over 100 performers on stage at the same time. The Palast is equipped with the latest cutting-edge technologies, and can create any scene, from a water basin to an ice-rink or a circus ring. Moreover, it also has the largest laser show in Europe. And all so it can stage a breathtakingly opulent show every evening – and every show features the iconic Palast showgirls and their precision dance routines!

From theatre to spectacular stage shows: The history of the Friedrichstadt-Palast

Today, the glamorous show theatre and the building itself are both known as the Friedrichstadt-Palast. The theatre’s roots, though, go back to a building originally some 200 metres away and designed in 1867 as a market hall. In 1873, six years later, the market hall was converted to create a permanent circus venue, large enough to hold an audience of several thousand. In 1919, after several new starts, the theatre building was taken over by impresario Max Reinhardt as a stage for monumental productions. Reinhardt renamed it the Großes Schauspielhaus – ’Grand Theatre’ – and ran it as a second venue along with his Deutsches Theater for serious drama. The Großes Schauspielhaus certainly lived up to its name during Berlin’s glorious 1920s when the venue hosted such internationally renowned acts as the Comedian Harmonists. During the later years of the Nazi era, the theatre was closed.

Only after the end of the Second World War and the division of Berlin was the theatre, then in East Berlin, named the Friedrichstadt-Palast. In East Germany, the venue hosted major national and international stars, including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1980, the building’s foundations were found to be in such poor condition that the theatre had to close its doors. A new Friedrichstadt-Palast was then constructed on the present site – on Friedrichstraße in the heart Berlin, where it still is today.

After German reunification, the Friedrichstadt-Palast soon advanced to become one of Europe’s top show stages, renowned for its breathtaking grand productions such as Yma, Show Me and The Wyld. Every February, the Palast has a shift of pace when it becomes Berlin’s largest cinema. For a few weeks, guests to the Berlinale, the city’s famous film festival, can then enjoy screenings of some of the top festival movies here.

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