Haus der Berliner Festspiele
The heart of Berlin’s festival scene and its international audience
The Haus der Berliner Festspiele, one of the finest examples of post-war modernist architecture in Berlin, is among the city’s most modern theatre venues. It is here that the popular festivals and programme series of the Berliner Festspiele take place today, and it also provides an attractive setting for numerous international guest performances.
The building’s striking architecture, with its expansive, light-filled glass façade, was designed by Fritz Bornemann, one of Berlin’s most renowned post-war architects.
International festivals
The Berliner Festspiele have been using the venue year-round since 21 April 2001. The festivals held here annually give Berlin’s events calendar a clear structure:
In spring, the MaerzMusik festival takes place here, featuring concerts, performances, installations and discussion events. This is followed in May by the Theatertreffen, showcasing ten productions from German-speaking countries selected by a jury of critics, alongside supplementary programmes. At the beginning of September, the Musikfest Berlin opens the new season, in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation and with the Philharmonie as the main venue. In November, the Jazzfest Berlin brings the festival series to a close. In between are the Treffen junge Szene, four national competitions for young artists:
- Theatertreffen der Jugend (Youth Theatre Festival)
- Tanztreffen der Jugend (Youth Dance Festival)
- Treffen junge Musikszene (Young Music Scene Meeting)
- Treffen junger Autor*innen (Meeting of young authors)
The Performing Arts Season series presents international productions in dance, theatre and performance during the autumn and winter, whilst the annual ‘Reflexe und Reflexionen’ (Reflections and Reactions ) theme days address social issues and controversial topics.
The venue also serves as a venue for discussions, symposia and conferences on cultural policy issues, as well as for award ceremonies. In February, it hosts the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). Tanz im August and, in September, the international literaturfestival berlin also regularly hold events here.
One of Berlin’s most modern stages
The technical modernisation of the auditorium and stage technology between 2009 and 2011 transformed the building into one of Berlin’s most modern stages. The result is an established venue for international guest performances. Past guests have included, amongst others:
- Internationally renowned artists such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, William Kentridge, Taylor Mac, Gisèle Vienne, Robert Wilson
- Outstanding ensembles such as Forced Entertainment, The Forsythe Company, Pina Bausch/Tanztheater Wuppertal, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Hofesh Shechter Company, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company, Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Akram Khan Company
The Haus der Berliner Festspiele and its history
The current building of the Berliner Festspiele was built as the ‘Theater der Freien Volksbühne’ on the site of a former grammar school – incidentally, at a time very close to the construction of the Berlin Wall. Under the artistic direction of Erwin Piscator, the theatre opened on 1 May 1963. Like his successors Kurt Hübner and Hans Neuenfels later on, he shaped the venue on Schaperstraße as a centre for political theatre in Berlin. Directors such as Rudolf Noelte, Luc Bondy and Klaus Michael Grüber played a key role in this.
In 1992, three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Freie Volksbühne theatre closed. From 1993 to 1997, the building was used by the Musical Theater Berlin. After public funding was withdrawn, the then owner, the Freie Volksbühne Berlin association, was forced to sell the building in 1999. In December 2000, the Berliner Festspiele moved in initially as tenants and reopened the building on 21 April 2001. Since its acquisition by the federal government in 2014, it has been permanently secured as a venue for the Berliner Festspiele.
The architect Fritz Bornemann (1912–2007) ranks alongside Paul Baumgarten, Werner Düttmann and Egon Eiermann as one of the defining architects of post-war modernism, building on the International Style. His most important buildings in Berlin include the Deutsche Oper in Charlottenburg, the former Dahlem Museums and the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Kreuzberg.
“Democratic Architecture”
With its generous glass façade, the Haus der Berliner Festspiele opens up to the urban space and exemplifies the democratic understanding of architecture in the post-war period: this ideal was associated with open spatial structures, transparency and a non-hierarchical arrangement in the auditorium: the stage and acoustics can be perceived equally from every seat.
