Berliner Philharmonie – Home to Europe’s Finest Orchestra

Philharmonie Enjoys the Rare Distinction of Having great Acoustics and Architecture:

Berliner Philharmonie is home to one of Europe’s finest philharmonic orchestras. The Philharmonie was designed by Hans Scharoun and built between 1960 and 1963. It opened on October 15, 1963, with a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan, a performance which no doubt sent shivers down the spines of those privileged to have attended it.

Berlin Philharmonie Building

The Philharmonie building design is quite unusual and some say that it looks like circus tents from the outside. In fact, the Philharmonie’s design experimented with a new concept for concert hall interiors which became a model for other concert halls around the world. The design of the hall is based on the concept of “music as the centre of attention”, with the concert podium in the centre of the pentagonal hall and the audience seated in terraced galleries surrounding the stage on all sides. The building enjoys the rare distinction for having great acoustics and architecture.

The Kammermusiksaal (Chamber Music Hall) was added between 1984 to 1987 and the design was based on sketches by Scharoun.

Philharmonie Concerts

About 270 concerts take place every year in the Philharmonie which has 2440 seats. This is where the Berliner Philharmoniker give their concerts, as well as guest orchestras, various chamber groups and soloists. The Chamber Music Hall (Kammermusiksaal) hosts approximately 240 concerts a year, ranging from smaller orchestral formations and chamber music groups to recitals. It has a capacity of 1180 seats.

The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the Berlin’s famous Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. It’s in the Kulturforum district and can be reached on foot from the Potsdamer Platz station.

See what’s on at the Philharmonie and you can also book your Berlin concert tickets online through Classictic OR Music&Opera.

For more Berlin Info, see HERE.

Address:
Berliner Philharmonie
Herbert-von-Karajan-Str. 1
10785 Berlin
Germany

Getting there:

• U-Bahn –  Take line U2 to Potsdamer Platz or Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park stations
• S-Bahn  –  Take lines S1, S2, S25, S26 to Potsdamer Platz
• By bus  –  Direct services the Philharmonie:  Lines 200 (to Philharmonie), M48 (to Kulturforum), other bus lines (within a short walk), M29 (to Potsdamer Brücke), M41 (Potsdamer Platz)

Map of Berlin:

10785 Berlin, Germany

Things to do in Berlin

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