Leipzig
Leipzig’s Opernhaus (opera house) has a 300-year-old pedigree, though the building only went up in the 1950s. The program is an eclectic mix of classics…
Leipzig
Leipzig’s Opernhaus (opera house) has a 300-year-old pedigree, though the building only went up in the 1950s. The program is an eclectic mix of classics…
Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
Industrial 1920s brick surrounds provide great acoustics at this live music venue, where punk, alternative, metal and rock bands take to the stage…
Hanover
This spacious art-house cinema is on the top floor of a magnificent expressionist building designed by Fritz Höger, the architect of Hamburg’s Chilehaus…
Baden-Baden
The Baden-Baden Theater is a neo-baroque confection of white-and-red sandstone with a frilly interior that looks like a miniature version of the Opéra…
Cologne
An institution in Cologne's alternative scene, this club in the hip cross-cultural Ehrenfeld borough has programming as eclectic as the crowd. Depending…
Berlin
Hidden in the Edison-Höfe, a stylishly renovated light-bulb factory, this cellar venue hosts fine jazz and blues concerts (many of them free), as well as…
Kreuzberg
Named after a David Lynch road movie, this kitsch-cool dive with blood-red walls, tiki gods and Elvis paraphernalia hammers home punk, ska, surf-rock and…
Frankfurt am Main
This excellent art cinema is attached to Frankfurt’s cinema museum, the Deutsches Filmmuseum. Many films are screened in their original languages.
City West & Charlottenburg
As its name implies, comfort levels are elevated in this mini-multiplex specialising in quality international films presented in their original language…
Cologne
Although a bit dated and grungy, this ex-factory remains an essential concert venue in town with concerts covering the entire sound spectrum from indie…
Erfurt
Drag shows, musicals and even dinner and theatre nights take centre stage in this cultural centre, which seats, feeds and waters up to 500 at its cabaret…
Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
The grandiose, golden-hued Staatstheater was built on Hitler’s orders to thank the Saarlanders for their 1935 vote to rejoin Germany. It opened in 1938…
Nuremberg
Nuremberg's magnificent state theatre serves up an impressive mix of dramatic arts. The renovated art nouveau opera house presents opera and ballet, while…
Kreuzberg
A 1950s cinema has been recycled into a rock-indie-electro-pop hub with mosh-pit electricity and a crowd that cares more about the music than about…
Frankfurt am Main
Check out the walls for photos of jazz greats who’ve played at this venue since it opened in 1952. In addition to concerts, there are jam sessions on…
Berlin
This five-screen indie cinema, upstairs in Court I of the Hackesche Höfe complex, presents a well-curated mix of European art-house movies, documentaries…
Hanover
This huge circular venue beyond the Hauptbahnhof has a buzzing cafe-bar, theatres and various rooms used as venues where you can catch a wide program of…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
The booking policy at this unhurried pocket-size club with plush decor skews towards lo-fi indie-folk-rock and usually features prestardom international…
Hanover
In this large old building and its surrounding grounds, you’ll find a mixed bag of live music, music theatre and dance offerings. It’s great in summer…
Aachen
This cavernous basement joint does double duty as an art-house cinema and a sweaty dance club that draws mainly from Aachen's huge student population. DJs…
Frankfurt am Main
The city's huge cultural complex includes Oper Frankfurt, Frankfurt's main opera company, and Schauspiel Frankfurt, its largest theatre company. Tickets…
Harz Mountains
For something a little different and as German as the great writer Goethe himself, catch a steam train to the top of the Brocken for limited-date summer…
Munich
Charismatic Lithuanian maestro Mariss Jansons has rejuvenated this orchestra's playlist and often performs with its choir at such venues as the Gasteig…
Freiluftkino Insel im Cassiopeia
Friedrichshain
Part of the Cassiopeia beer garden and club complex on the RAW Gelände, this 350-seat outdoor cinema shows an eclectic roster of indie movies in their…
Hamburg
Built in 1908, the Laeiszhalle was Hamburg's premier address for classical concerts and opera. That mantle has passed to the extraordinary new…
Munich
This intimate watering hole brings some of Munich's baddest cats to the stage. You never know who'll show up for Monday's jam session, and Tuesday to…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
This plush theatre stages a cornucopia of saucy musical reviews, comedies, soap operas and variety shows. Midnight shows follow the main performance. The…
Berlin
This 1960s cinema in the courtyard of the Centre Francais (Wedding was part of the French sector during the city’s division) has a heady repertory of…
Lübeck
This adorable puppet theatre, which is part of the Theater Figuren Museum, puts on a children’s show at 3pm, and another for adults on some evenings at 7…
Hanover
This former movie theatre features rock, pop, house, soul and more on weekends and frequently during the week, with both local and international acts…
Freiburg
Under the brick arches of a wine cellar, this venue hosts first-rate jazz, rock and world music concerts at least a couple of nights a week (see the…
Munich
Downstairs at the Hotel Mariandl, this is Munich's oldest music cafe. It has an eclectic menu of sounds ranging from bossa nova to piano to Italian…
Mainz
Concerts by German and international bands, dance parties, theatre for kids… the happening KulturZentrum (cultural centre) has it and more. It's housed in…
Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland
The city’s first electric power plant, built in 1888, is now a multipurpose cultural centre hosting concerts (especially jazz but also pop and classical),…
Hanover
Part live-music venue, part club, the Glocksee has everything from techno and trance DJs to grungy gigs – mainly on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, with a…
Ulm
This huge cultural venue, housed in a former industrial plant 1km south of the Hauptbahnhof, has a concert hall, cinema, disco, bar and special-event…
Hanover
An old-school type of variety theatre with dancing, acrobatics, circus-style acts, magic, music and more, housed in the Georgspalast. It also boasts the…
Frankfurt am Main
This rambling former soap factory serves as a forum for younger artists, and hosts contemporary dance, theatre (sometimes in English) and cabaret, as well…
Berlin
This 17,000-seat outdoor amphitheatre in the district of Köpenick, about 12km southeast of Alexanderplatz, was built in the early 1950s from war debris…
Hanover
Home to the Staatstheater Hannover and stages both new works and classics like Medea and Hamlet. It's sometimes used to host international performances…