Top 10 Christmas Shows in Berlin
The holiday spirit is in full swing with many spectacular Christmas performances
Christmas in Berlin means culture, comedy and magic. Because at the most festive time of the year, the city's theatres once again show what they can do. The programme ranges from Bach's Christmas Oratorio to sparkling dream worlds and Christmas in the circus ring. Oh you merry one!
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Tip 1: The world of dreams in BLINDED BY DELIGHT
As the largest theatre stage in the world, the Friedrichstadt-Palast knows what a good show should look like. And you can enjoy this unique stage expertise at the BLINDED BY DELIGHT Grand Show. What is it about? The protagonist Luzi opens her eyes one day and is suddenly surrounded by the glistening splendour of her very own dream world.
When the love of her life finally appears on the scene, this new life seems almost too good to be true. She is soon faced with a decision: Does she follow her dreams or does she return to reality. With over 100 artists and a spectacular stage set, BLINDED BY DELIGHT takes you into a glittering universe that invites you to dream!
Tickets for BLINDED BY delighT
Discover Berlin’s most enchanting stage! Enjoy live fairytale performances in cozy wooden huts, surrounded by the aroma of mulled wine and the glow of twinkling lights — magical theatre for all ages in Monbijou Park, right across from the Bode Museum
Tip 2: Experience the magic of small things at Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque Du Soleil gave Berlin a very special gift before Christmas this year: ALIZÉ, the first resident show on European soil, started here in October. ALIZÉ was specially designed for the theatre at Potsdamer Platz, where the Canadian circus company has had its permanent home since 2019.
ALIZÉ invites you to take a closer look: The spotlight in this show is on all the little things and moments that make life so special - and yet are easily overlooked. In the spirit of Christmas, acrobats from all over the world come together on stage to give the invisible a magical form and bring a touch of magic to the festive season.
Tip 3: Charles Dickens' Christmas story at the Bluemax Theatre
In Victorian London, Christmas is just around the corner and the whole city is experiencing the Advent season full of anticipation. Everyone is happy except one: the hard-hearted businessman Ebenezer Scrooge. A self-confessed misanthrope, he has scared off friends and relatives alike and has been living a secluded life ever since.
If it were up to him, it would stay that way - but three Christmas ghosts have other plans for the stubborn old man. At the Bluemax Theatre, you can experience A Christmas Story as a fairytale musical. With music by Michael Schanze and Christian Berg, Dickens' story about love and compassion becomes a stage experience for the whole family.
Tickets for Charles Dickens' Christmas story
Tip 4: The Young Show Frida & Frida for the whole family
Before Frida Kahlo became a world-famous art icon, she too was once a little girl - but she was not granted a carefree childhood. But instead of losing hope in the face of illness and worry, Frida resorted to her imagination and invented a best friend in her sickbed, whom she also called Frida.
Inspired by Kahlo's turbulent life story, the Young Show Frida & Frida brings big themes to the stage of the Friedrichstadt-Palast in a child-friendly way. Over 100 young talents from 20 countries are involved in the performance, which, in close collaboration with South American artists, brings the lively spirit of Mexico to the Berlin winter.
Tickets for Young Show Frida & Frida
Tip 5: Harlem Gospel Night at St Paul the Apostle Church
The gifted soul singer Donna Brown came to Berlin in the 1990s and has remained loyal to the local music scene ever since. From her countless music projects, a group was formed in 1992 that has become an indispensable highlight of the Schöneberg Christmas season.
The Golden Gospel Pearls - consisting of female singers, a drummer, a bassist and Donna Brown on piano - perform annually from November to December with the Harlem Gospel Night in the Apostel-Paulus-Kirche. The concert series presents a repertoire of gospel classics such as Amazing Grace and Down by The River as well as some self-composed Christmas medleys.
Tickets for the Harlem Gospel Night
Tip 6: The Roncalli Christmas circus is back
This year, the Roncalli Christmas Circus is once again bringing comedy, acrobatics and magic to the Tempodrom. For many families, this show is a firm tradition in the Christmas calendar for good reason. While outside Berlin's winter has the streets firmly in its grip with snow, slush and wind, the Roncalli circus tent invites you into a refuge full of warmth and fun.
Weightless body artists fly across the circus ring to musical Christmas classics, and the in-house magician conjures up a Christmas surprise or two from his top hat. Make yourself comfortable with candy floss and a hot punch - the unique Roncalli atmosphere is guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit!
Tickets for the Roncalli Christmas circus
Tip 7: Spring fever at Romeo & Juliet - even at Christmas
The heartbreaking audience favourite Romeo & Juliet - Love is Everything has been making hearts beat faster a thousand times over at the Stage Theater des Westens since April and brings spring fever to the stage even when snow and Christmas decorations are already sparkling outside.
Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer have transformed Shakespeare's love tragedy into a musical hit-fest that has been nominated seven times for the German Musical Theatre Award. The special mixture of modern pop songs and classical arias combines the original Shakespearean dialogue with the special magic of the musical tradition.
Tip 8: Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at the Admiralspalast
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is probably the most popular ballet piece of all time. In theatres and opera houses all over the world, E.T.A. Hoffmann's story about the brother and sister Klara and Fritz is an integral part of the Christmas programme - as it is at the Admiralspalast.
With a live orchestra and the impressive choreography of the Imperial Ballet, the Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King come to life here according to all the rules of the art. Opulent costumes, rousing music and a fairy-tale stage set provide a Berlin Christmas experience for the whole family!
Tickets for Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
Tip 9: Feast and marvel at PALAZZO in the Spiegelpalast
Acrobatics, live music, comedy and a four-course menu by celebrity chef Kolja Kleeberg - this exclusive Christmas programme awaits you at PALAZZO in the Spiegelpalast. Between opulent Art Nouveau decorations and outstanding entertainment, you can enjoy a truly luxurious Advent evening at this 3.5-hour dinner show.
Comedy, live music and acrobatics are performed in the ring, while spectacles of a completely different kind take place on the plates: Duck ragout with Macaire potatoes, romanesco, green asparagus and honey-rosemary jus - or the equally tantalising menu for vegetarians. A Christmas indulgence programme in the ambience of the 1920s.
Tickets for PALAZZO at the Spiegelpalast
Tip 10: Contemplative Advent season with Bach's Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas tree has been decorated, the presents have been bought and Christmas dinner has been planned - but for many, there is still one item missing from this list to make Christmas perfect: Bach's Christmas Oratorio. For Berlin music lovers, this means a compulsory visit to Berlin Cathedral this year.
Under the direction of Adrian Büttemeier, the baroque orchestra Aris & Auli and the oratorio choir of the Berliner Domkantorei will present the first three cantatas of this Christmas masterpiece in December. Hail, rejoice and praise the days - here's to a successful Christmas!
