Entertainment

Big cinema at Zoo Palast! The elaborately restored, traditional Berlin cinema shows sophisticated entertainment and family films.

Located on northern Friedrichstraße, the Friedrichstadt-Palast features one of the world's largest theater stages with an approximately 24-meter-wide portal, along with 1,899 seats and a retractable water basin holding about 160,000 liters. Since 2020, the 1984 building has been a protected monument in all its aspects, attracting over 700,000 guests annually.

The Theater des Westens on Kantstrasse opened in 1896 to plans by Bernhard Sehring and combines a neo-baroque auditorium with a stage tower shaped like a medieval keep. In 1961 the German-language premiere of My Fair Lady ran here for two years and paved the way for the musical in Germany. Today around 1.600 seats fill the house.

The Astor Film Lounge on Kurfürstendamm pampers its audience with a luxurious ambience, selected films and in-seat service!

Renzo Piano's Theater am Potsdamer Platz opened in 1999, seats 1,754 guests, and has been home to Cirque du Soleil's first permanent European show since 2025. Behind the 35-meter-high glass facade lies the grand staircase, and every year during the Berlinale, the venue transforms into the Berlinale Palast, the main screening location for the film festival.

A little hidden, in the third backyard of the Höfe am Südstern in Kreuzberg, lies the small, relaxed arthouse cinema, which has since become an institution.

Located in the Tiergarten, between the Chancellery and the House of World Cultures, the Tipi am Kanzleramt has been home to Europe's largest stationary tent stage since 2002: 800 square meters, 480 seats, almost all at bistro tables under chandeliers. Chanson, cabaret, variety shows, and musicals are performed. For a variety evening in Berlin, this is the grand stage with a beer garden out front.

The Tipi am Kanzleramt, Europe's largest stationary tent stage, is located in the middle of the Großer Tiergarten, between the Federal Chancellery and the House of World Cultures. Guests sit almost exclusively at tables across 800 square meters, where food is served during the performance, and in front of the tent is a beer garden with a view of the Chancellery.

Since 2026, Kino Arsenal has been located in the silent green cultural quarter in Berlin-Wedding and is one of the Berlinale venues.

Showbühne Berlin occupies a Wilhelminian era building on Köthener Straße in Kreuzberg, a few minutes south of Potsdamer Platz. The hall can accommodate up to 199 guests with flexible seating, featuring Burlesque, GDR-Comedy, Tribute Shows, and the male revue SIXX PAXX. This is an unusually broad program for a variety theater in Berlin.

Anyone who loves watching English films in their original language will love the cult cinema Odeon in Schöneberg!

For eleven years, the Berliner Schlemmer Varieté has been performing behind a three-and-a-half-meter high velvet curtain in the heritage-protected Arminius market hall from 1892. Comedy, live music, and acrobatics are combined with a three-course menu from an open show kitchen. This dinner show in Berlin offers vaudeville with a Moabit flair instead of a glittery revue.

The Admiralspalast on Friedrichstraße was built in 1911 over an accidentally discovered brine spring and once united a thermal bath, ice palace, bowling alleys, and a cinema under one roof. Today, the listed building is a guest performance venue with around 1,600 seats, a preserved Emperor's Box, and original, hand-operated stage machinery.

Since 1984, Scheinbar Varieté in Schöneberg has been Germany's oldest and smallest open-stage variety theater: a four by three-meter stage, around sixty seats, a bar. Professionals and amateurs each get seven minutes, with the order only being determined shortly before the show. For a variety evening in Berlin, this means no two evenings are alike.

Located in the heart of Berlin-Mitte, directly on Friedrichstraße, EXIT Escape Room Games sends its visitors on cinematic missions full of puzzles, time pressure, and team spirit. Six escape rooms make EXIT arguably the city's most versatile fun activity.

Among other cultural-social institutions, Kulturfabrik Moabit houses the Filmrauschpalast as an independent art-house cinema.

Since 2002, the Quatsch Comedy Club Berlin has been performing in the former Kleine Revue in the basement of the Friedrichstadt-Palast. It was founded in 1992 by Thomas Hermanns, and to this day, four comedians and a host take the stage here each evening. Additionally, there's a newcomer competition and an open mic in the bar on the upper tier.

In the Arminius Market Hall in Moabit, three courses and artistry alternate, with cooking done openly in the hall. The Berliner Schlemmer Varieté turns the menu and the stage into a continuous evening.

In the Filmhaus on Potsdamer Platz the Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum for Film and Television presents important collections from the history of film and television.

The Famous Liquor Store on Nestorstraße in Wilmersdorf was formerly a cocktail bar and is now an event venue with a Hollywood design, featuring red diner furniture and a long bar. It hosts the bar show "LET'S GET FAMOUS" with burlesque, can-can, and magic. This variety show in Berlin takes place on the bar counter instead of a stage.

If you prefer throwing darts after work to sitting on the couch, Weißensee is the right place for you. Die Darterei Berlin is arguably Berlin's most stylish address for steel darts, with 17 perfectly lit boards, Scolia technology, and a lounge bar that impresses even without a bullseye.

The Chamäleon Theater occupies a 1906 ballroom in the first courtyard of the Hackesche Höfe and has been showcasing contemporary circus instead of classical variety programs since 2004. Performances take place at bistro tables, and the productions are entirely non-verbal. For a variety evening in Berlin, this means world-class acrobatics, but without a compère and glitter costumes.

The heart of Wilde Matilde in Nikolaiviertel is a bar built from a historic chain carousel. Additionally, there's the Kaisersaal in old Berlin coffee house style, an in-house patisserie, and on weekends, the Berlin Varieté Show with Can-Can, aerial artistry, and live saxophone. Varieté in Berlin with Eisbein and no aftershow party.

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.

The Bar jeder Vernunft performs in an original Art Nouveau mirrored tent, built in the Netherlands in 1912 as a Danse Palais, and located in Wilmersdorf since 1992. Between 200 and 250 guests sit at tables in the arena or in boxes at the edge. For a cabaret evening in Berlin, this is the stage with the most mirrors.