Open Air Cinemas
Last updated on 05/12/2026
Ellen Mehrhoff-Roddewig
For me, an evening at an open-air cinema is one of the most wonderful summer traditions Berlin has to offer. There’s hardly anything better than sitting on a bench with friends on a balmy evening while the screen lights up between historic building facades or park trees. For this list, I visited the city’s best open-air cinemas and focused on what really makes the evening special: atmosphere, film selection, picture and sound quality at dusk, and the whole experience—from popcorn to seating options. Grab a blanket and enjoy the Berlin summer!
The Open Air Cinema Friedrichshain is located in the middle of Volkspark, on the border with Prenzlauer Berg. Under the open sky, surrounded by old trees and meadows, this green space transforms into one of Berlin's largest and most popular open-air cinemas every summer.
Hidden in the courtyard of the Kunstquartier Bethanien on Mariannenplatz in Kreuzberg is Berlin's oldest and only OmU (Original Version with Subtitles) open-air cinema. If you want to see international arthouse gems, cult classics, and current cinema highlights under the open sky, this is the place to be. A deckchair, a woolen blanket, and a beer: summer cinema doesn't get much better than this.
In Volkspark Rehberge, in the heart of Berlin's Wedding district, a listed open-air stage from the 1930s transforms every summer into one of the city's most atmospheric open-air cinemas. Here, you sit under the open sky, surrounded by old trees, watching films on an inflatable screen.
Where the Gemäldegalerie meets the summer sky: The Sommerkino Kulturforum at Potsdamer Platz in Tiergarten transforms Matthäikirchplatz every summer into one of Berlin's largest and most atmospheric open-air cinemas. Arthouse on a deck chair, with the skyline of Potsdamer Platz at your back.
The open air cinema Freiluftkino Insel at the Cassiopeia Sommergarten in Friedrichshain is a perfect spot in the city to enjoy a good movie under the stars.
Freiluftkino Hasenheide is one of Berlin's most charming open-air cinemas, hidden in Volkspark Hasenheide, right in the neighborhood between Neukölln and Kreuzberg. It offers a daily program for everyone, from children's films in the afternoon to arthouse evening films under the stars.
In the courtyard of Haus Schwarzenberg, just a few steps from Hackescher Markt in Berlin-Mitte, an old brick-green courtyard transforms every summer into one of the city's most atmospheric open-air cinemas. The Open Air Kino Mitte shows arthouse films and modern classics under the open sky, where street art meets cinematic magic.
Every summer, the Open Air Cinema Spandau transforms the sheltered inner courtyard of the City Library in Spandau's Old Town into one of Berlin's most atmospheric open-air screens. Arthouse meets mainstream cinema here, and if you're chilly, you even get a hot water bottle.
Located in the heart of Friedrichshain, on the legendary RAW grounds, the Open-Air Cinema Insel im Cassiopeia transforms warm summer nights into a true open-air cinema experience. Arthouse meets documentary film here, Jamaican BBQ meets beer garden atmosphere – all with the raw charm this neighborhood is known for.
In the backyard of an old factory in Moabit, between brick walls and train tracks, the Kulturfabrik Moabit's Open-Air Cinema shows films every summer that are rarely seen on a screen in Berlin. Admission is free, the atmosphere unique.
