Highlight in Berlin 2027: The Pergamon Museum Reopens

Berlin, September 2026 Berlin remains one of Europe’s most exciting cities. Major exhibitions, events, new festivals, and cultural highlights will shape the coming months. One of the biggest highlights will be the reopening of the Pergamon Museum in June 2027. 

The World Has Been Waiting: The Pergamon Museum Reopens on June 4, 2027
The most significant cultural moment in Berlin in 2027 will be the reopening of large sections of the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island. On 4 June 2027, the world-famous museum will once again welcome visitors for the first time in many years. This will also mark the return of public access to the iconic Pergamon Altar. The reopening will be a highlight of the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Museum Island Berlin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Europe’s most important cultural landmarks.

New Open Staircase at the Humboldt Forum
From summer 2027, a new open staircase at the Humboldt Forum will offer visitors and Berliners fresh perspectives of the River Spree and Museum Island. The 38-metre-wide staircase, featuring seating steps and a waterside balcony, will create a new urban meeting place in the heart of the historic city centre, where culture, architecture, and public space come together. 

World-Class Entertainment
Berlin has exciting new show highlights: Cirque du Soleil will present Alizé at Theater am Potsdamer Platz, its first permanent show in Europe. Combining breathtaking acrobatics, magic, and immersive storytelling, the production further strengthens Berlin’s reputation as an open-minded international entertainment capital.

At Friedrichstadt-Palast, audiences can experience a new Grand Show: Blinded by Delight. Featuring more than 100 performers, the production transports audiences into a dreamlike world on the largest theatre stage in the world. 

Art and Culture Highlights
A current visitor magnet in Berlin is the Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art: featuring 400,000 wooden blocks, the installation ‘We Make Years Out of Hours’ invites visitors to build together until January 2027. To mark its 30th anniversary, the Hamburger Bahnhof is also presenting the exhibition ‘Tausendmal Berlin’ until 30 December 2027. More than 70 works by over 50 international artists portray Berlin as an artistic resonance chamber between history, politics and global movements. Works by artists including Katharina Grosse, Mona Hatoum, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Katharina Sieverding, Thomas Struth and Danh Vo reflect the city’s myth as a place of subculture and hedonism within an international context.

Until 27 September 2026, the Alte Nationalgalerie is dedicating a major special exhibition to the art dealer Paul Cassirer, featuring more than 100 masterpieces of French Impressionism.

Berlin can also look forward to a top-class exhibition programme in 2027. At the Museum of Decorative Arts, ‘Verner Panton – World of Colours’, running from 4 March to 18 July, brings the visionary world of the Danish designer and architect to life through more than 100 exhibits, offering a colourful, sensory experience.

The Alte Nationalgalerie is presenting an art-historical sensation: to mark the 200th anniversary of Arnold Böcklin’s birth, the exhibition ‘Böck-lin. Beyond the Myth’, running from 19 March to 1 August 2027, brings together for the first time the four surviving versions of his most famous motif, ‘The Isle of the Dead’, from Basel, Berlin, Leipzig and New York. In total, around 150 paintings, sculptures and drawings offer an insight into the work of one of Symbolism’s most significant artists.

From 23 April to 29 August 2027, the Neue Nationalgalerie will be honouring Katharina Sieverding with her first comprehensive retrospective in Berlin: around 40 large-format photographic montages, multi-channel slide projections and room-filling film projections take visitors on a journey through six decades of her work.

From 5 May 2027, Ai Weiwei – one of the most influential voices in contemporary art on the international stage – will take centre stage at the Bode Museum. Existing and newly created works, as well as personal objects belonging to the artist, will engage in a dialogue with 2,000 years of art history there until 4 June 2028. These interventions open up new perspectives on belonging and exclusion, power and resistance, memory and loss.

To mark the 300th anniversary of Thomas Gainsborough’s birth, the Gemäldegalerie will present the exhibition ‘Thomas Gainsborough: Painter of Life’ from 14 May to 12 September 2027. Around 50 works from Berlin’s unique collection of British painting, alongside high-calibre international loans, make the exhibition the continental European contribution to the Gainsborough anniversary year.

Another international highlight is set to take place this autumn: from 3 September 2027 to 2 July 2028, the Hamburger Bahnhof will be dedicating its first comprehensive retrospective exhibition in Berlin to the American light artist James Turrell. Light sculptures, large-scale spatial installations, as well as designs and models, will take visitors on a journey through six decades of his work, allowing them to experience art as an immediate spatial experience.

In September, international artists, galleries and creative professionals will gather in the capital for Berlin Art Week. The Musikfest Berlin brings top orchestras and international ensembles to the Philharmonie and other venues across the city. In autumn, from 9 to 18 October, the Festival of Lights will once again transform the city into a spectacular open-air gallery of light art and projections.  Interactive and immersive exhibitions are becoming increasingly important: around 20 museums in Berlin provide a backdrop for selfies and digital art experiences. 

Since its reopening in 2026, the Hohenzollern Crypt at Berlin Cathedral has also been accessible once more. Following six years of restoration work, visitors can rediscover the 1,500-square-metre crypt, which houses 91 Hohenzollern coffins.

An overview of Berlin’s top exhibitions here 

Rediscover Berlin’s museum scene
Berlin’s museum scene continues to evolve, setting new trends in culture, art and knowledge. A key project in Berlin’s museum landscape is looking ahead to 2027: the Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design, whose listed building, dating from 1979, is currently undergoing extensive renovation and being expanded with a new extension. Around 2,000 square metres of additional exhibition space, along with a striking tower serving as a new entrance, will enhance the institution’s international profile. As part of Open Monument Day, initial glimpses are set to be revealed in September 2026, with the full reopening planned for 2027.

The new MuseumsMeileMitte has taken shape around Berlin Central Station, bringing together four museums within a single mile: the Museum of Natural History, the Hamburger Bahnhof, the Futurium and the Charité Museum of the History of Medicine are all just a few minutes’ walk from one another, combining science, medicine, contemporary art and questions about the future. Together, these four internationally renowned institutions form a unique hub of culture and knowledge in the heart of the capital.

Berlin is also a magnet for major live events. In 2026, the city will welcome TFELD, a new large-scale festival on Tempelhofer Feld. On August 22, the one-day event will unite hip-hop, techno, and Berlin club culture across four stages, featuring national and international acts such as Paul Kalkbrenner, Ellen Allien, Pashanim, and Marlon Hoffstadt. International top acts are also expected in Berlin in summer 2027. Ed Sheeran will perform four concerts at Tempelhofer Feld, while pop star Harry Styles may also return to Berlin for several open-air shows, although dates have not yet been confirmed. 

Cinema News from Berlin
Berlin is one of Europe’s leading film and cinema capitals. The Deutsche Kinemathek has opened its first permanent exhibition at its new location in the E-Werk, exploring Berlin’s special role as a centre of international film and subculture. The iconic Kino International on Karl-Marx-Allee has celebrated its reopening following extensive heritage-sensitive renovation work. Meanwhile, arthouse cinema Arsenal has reopened at the Silent Green cultural quarter in Wedding, a former crematorium that is now one of Berlin’s most exciting cultural venues. The cinema scene is also expanding in Prenzlauer Berg: in spring 2027, a new arthouse cinema with two screens is set to open in the former Bassy Club on Pfefferberg; as well as film screenings, it aims to bring together school cinema and cultural events under one roof.

Design and a New Marine Attraction
In 2026, Berlin celebrates 20 years as a UNESCO City of Design. More than 30,000 creative businesses make the city one of the world’s most exciting design hubs – from sustainable fashion to open innovation spaces such as CityLab Berlin. Festivals like Berlin Design Week, design museums, street art locations, and neighbourhood tours showcase the diversity of the scene. Special anniversary events are planned throughout the year, including DesignDays.Berlin in September, a new festival dedicated to interiors, architecture, and design. 

In the Lichtenberg district, “Ocean Berlin” is currently under development as a state-of-the-art marine experience centre. Its centrepiece will be a 7.5-million-litre predator tank. Innovative educational formats combining entertainment, learning, and marine conservation will add another major family attraction to Berlin’s tourism offering. The opening is planned for spring 2027. 

Between the future and tradition: Berlin’s hotel highlights
Germany’s tallest hotel tower opens: A major highlight is on the horizon for late 2026 with the opening of the Estrel Tower. The 45-storey skyscraper will be Germany’s tallest hotel tower – a spectacular place to stay, work, hold meetings and network. It will feature event and co-working spaces, as well as a restaurant with a sky bar.

120 years of the Hotel Adlon – an anniversary for a Berlin icon: In 2027, the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin will celebrate its 120th anniversary. The legendary luxury hotel by the Brandenburg Gate looks back on an eventful history: opened in 1907, it was a meeting place for Emperor Wilhelm II, Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker. Following its destruction during the Second World War, the name Adlon remained a Berlin legend until the hotel reopened in 1997 as the first new building on Pariser Platz – a symbol of German reunification and the new Berlin. Events are planned throughout the year to mark the anniversary, including a gala, historical events and an open day, through which the Adlon is deliberately reaching out to the people of Berlin.

More hotel news from Berlin

Spreepark: Berlin’s cultural and nature park to open in 2027
In spring 2027, a special Berlin landmark will make a comeback: the Spreepark in Plänterwald is set to reopen as a new cultural, arts and nature park. At its heart is the restored, 45-metre-high Ferris wheel, which will turn again for the first time in over two decades. Berlin is thus reclaiming an extraordinary open space where historical relics of the former GDR amusement park are combined with event venues, art installations, spacious green spaces and leisure activities. A place that will delight Berliners just as much as visitors from all over the world.

Experience History and Freedom in Berlin
Together with Kulturprojekte Berlin and the Berlin Wall Foundation, Berlin will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall from 13 to 16 August 2026. At the heart of the citywide programme is a 30-metre-long installation at the Brandenburg Gate on Platz des 18. März, which makes the former border fortifications physically tangible and invites reflection on freedom, borders and democratic values. Accompanying the installation, the open-air exhibition “Wall Perspectives. Berlin 1961–1990” presents historical photographs depicting everyday life in the divided city. Guided tours, talks with contemporary witnesses and events at key memorial sites, including the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, will complement the programme. In addition, Berlin is planning a major new exhibition on freedom, taking the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 as its starting point and exploring questions of freedom today and in the future against the backdrop of Berlin’s and Germany’s history. The exhibition is planned to be shown at the Humboldt Forum.

From the end of November, the Christmas markets in Berlin’s districts provide further seasonal reasons to visit.

Following the successful premiere in November 2025, Berlin – the city of freedom – is planning another Berlin Freedom Week from November 7 to 14, 2026. This citywide event week will focus on freedom, democracy, and human rights. The highlight of the week will be the international Berlin Freedom Conference on November 10, 2026, bringing together influential voices from politics, civil society, and culture.

Marking the 37th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German capital will once again become an international stage for courageous ideas, open dialogue, and shared visions. Cultural events, workshops, and interactive formats for all generations are planned, welcoming both Berliners and international visitors alike. Berlin Freedom Week creates space for dialogue and encounters in a city that stands like no other for the value of freedom. 

“What the FUNK!” – 100 Years of the Berlin Funkturm and Further Highlights of Berlin as a Trade Fair and Convention Metropolis
One of Berlin’s special anniversaries in 2026 will be the 100th birthday of the Berlin Funkturm radio tower at the exhibition grounds, whose appearance is often compared to the Eiffel Tower. Under the motto “What the FUNK!”, Messe Berlin will celebrate the 150-metre landmark with a large-scale light installation. Following extensive renovation work, the tower is once again open to visitors, offering a unique panoramic view across Berlin. 

Berlin’s trade fair and convention calendar is also packed. Key events include ILA Berlin from June 10 to 14, IFA Berlin from September 4 to 8, and the 30th edition of InnoTrans from September 22 to 25. 

Berlin also remains a popular venue for international health and science conferences: from 11 to 13 October, the World Health Summit will bring together experts from the worlds of politics, science, business and society. This will be followed from 4 to 7 November by Neurowoche (Neuro Week), which combines several major medical conferences. The conference year will conclude from 9 to 12 December with the European Headache Congress, which will bring together international experts in headache research.  

This summer, the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office will also celebrate its 25th anniversary. The organisation is dedicated to positioning the German capital as a sustainable and innovative convention destination. Comprehensive information for event organisers is available on its website. 

Sporting Moments
In 2026, Berlin will host the world elite of women’s basketball. From September 4 to 13, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 will bring a major international sporting event to the city. Under the motto “Time for HER Game”, the world’s best female basketball players will compete for the world championship title at Uber Arena and Max-Schmeling-Halle – sending a strong signal in support of women’s sport. 

On 26 and 27 September, the BMW Berlin Marathon will draw runners and visitors from all over the world to the capital.

Berlin Recognised in International Rankings
Berlin has received numerous accolades in international rankings, confirming its appeal as a travel destination: the German capital ranks among the world’s top ten cities, is one of the four most sustainable metropolises globally, and ranks second among the best solo travel destinations. The Berlin Marathon’s reputation as Europe’s most popular marathon and Berlin’s status as a leading live music capital further underline the city’s international appeal.

You can find an overview of all the highlights for 2026/27 here, new openings in Berlin here, and news from Berlin’s hotel industry here.