Dear audience,

We are rebuilding for you! From August 2023, the building complex of the Komische Oper Berlin on Behrenstraße will be extensively renovated, modernized and expanded. We will continue to perform ... and how! During the time of the reconstruction, performances will not only take place at the Schillertheater, but also at Tempelhof Airport, the Kindl-Areal, at the Rotes Rathaus and in the many neighborhoods of the city.

Without the Schillertheater, there would be no Komische Oper Berlin! Opened in 1907, the Schillertheater housed the second venue of the Prussian State Theater Berlin from 1921. Walter Felsenstein staged productions here in the 1930s under artistic director Heinrich George. Destroyed by bombs in 1944, the artists of the Schillertheater continued their work at the Hebbel-Theater. It was here that Felsenstein's legendary production of Jacques Offenbach's Paris Life was created - the production that earned him the directorship of the former Metropol-Theater on Behrenstraße. There he founded the house that is considered the cradle of modern musical theater - the Komische Oper Berlin. The Schillertheater was rebuilt in 1950/51 and will serve as the venue for the Komische Oper Berlin from this season on.

Built between 1936 and 1941, Tempelhof Airport was the largest building in the world at the time, with 307,000 square meters of building space and a roof that could hold up to 80,000 spectators for air shows. During the Nazi era, the airport served as a monumental self-display; in the post-war period, with the Airlift, it became a symbol of freedom. Since its closure in 2008, the seven hangars have housed refugees, social projects and cultural events. During the reconstruction phase, the Komische Oper Berlin is staging a major premiere at unusual locations to kick off the season in September. This season: at Tempelhof Airport.

Founded in 1872 by a group of Rixdorf innkeepers, the Kindl brewery advanced to become one of Germany's largest breweries at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to its export hit and namesake Kindl-Pilsner. After the Second World War, the Neukölln site was unable to repeat its earlier successes, despite individual high phases, and was finally closed in 2005. Today, the NGOs located in the former brewery buildings and cellars, the SchwuZ Queer Club and the KINDL Center for Contemporary Art give the area a new face: politics, art and fun instead of or even with beer. In February 2024, Schall&Rausch, the festival for brand new musical theater, will enter its second round.

Where the center of medieval Berlin was in the 13th century, today so many landmarks gather as hardly at any other place in the city: the approximately 750-year-old Marienkirche, the Red City Hall built in 1869, the 368-meter-high TV tower, the Spree, the Marx-Engels-Forum, the Neptune Fountain ... And in between, a tent in which the Komische Oper Berlin brings the "cheerful music theater" of the GDR back to life during the summer months.

The Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, opened in 1821 as a playhouse. However, Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz was premiered here and Ludwig Beethoven's 9th Symphony was played for the first time in Berlin. Almost completely destroyed during World War II, the building was reopened as a playhouse in 1984 and has been used as the Konzerthaus Berlin since 1992. In addition to the Konzerthaus, the Komische Oper Berlin performs one symphony concert each in the Ernst-Reuter-Saal (Berlin-Reinickendorf), at the Schall&Rausch festival (Berlin-Neukölln) and in the tent at the Rotes Rathaus (Berlin-Mitte).

Out into the city, into the districts! The Komische Oper Berlin is the opera house for all of Berlin. For over 10 years now, the opera dolmuş has been rolling into the neighborhoods packed with musical theater as part of the "Selam Opera!" program. The "Jung - für alle!" musical theater agency works with schools and other institutions from Spandau to Köpenick, from Reinicken- to Zehlendorf. Opera can "pop up" anywhere, whether in the market hall or at the airport, as a "pop-up opera" or as a chamber concert. Keep your eyes and ears open, the Komische Oper Berlin is sure to be near you ...