What's On in Berlin 2026

The Venue

From Frederick the Great to Tonight's Curtain

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden — literally "the State Opera under the Linden trees" — is the oldest of Berlin's three great opera houses and one of the oldest still-operating opera houses in the world. Commissioned by Frederick the Great and designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, it opened on 7 December 1742 as the first freestanding opera house of a European capital — a radical architectural and political statement from a young king who insisted music belonged in a public building, not a royal palace.

For nearly three centuries the house has been the musical conscience of Berlin. It survived fires, Napoleon's occupation, the fall of the monarchy, and — most dramatically — near-total destruction in 1941. Rebuilt and reopened in 1955, then closed again from 2010 to 2017 for a meticulous acoustic and technical renovation, the hall today sounds clearer, warmer and more present than at any point in its history.

The Staatsoper's resident orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, is one of the oldest continuously playing ensembles in the world — its roots go back to a Prussian court chapel documented as early as 1570. The orchestra has been shaped across the centuries by music directors including Richard Strauss, Erich Kleiber, Otmar Suitner, Daniel Barenboim (1992–2023) and today Christian Thielemann — a lineage few ensembles anywhere can rival.

In 2026, the house presents the full canon — Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Strauss and Britten — alongside carefully revived rarities, Baroque masterpieces during the annual Barocktage festival, and contemporary ballet from the Staatsballett Berlin.