132 Best Performing Arts Venues in Germany

Mainstream U.S. and British movies are screened in their original versions at the CineStar im Sony Center. Tuesday is a discount evening.

For two long weekends in August, the wine town of Deidesheim fills up with stalls where visitors can sample local wines and hearty cuisine. Deidesheim's wineries also stay open late, offering live entertainment most nights during the festival.

From Friday through Monday over Whitsun (Pentecost) weekend every year, the town celebrates the famous wager said to have saved it from destruction in 1631, at the height of the Thirty Years' War. A play of the events takes place every day, and handicraft and artisan markets, along with food stands, fill the town squares.

One of Germany's leading drama stages, Deutsches Schauspielhaus has been lavishly restored to its full 19th-century opulence. It's the most important venue in town for classical and modern theater.

The Deutsches Theater is the premier spot for musicals, revues, balls, and big-band shows.

The theater most renowned for both its modern and classical productions is the Deutsches Theater.

In Neustadt, the German Wine Queen is crowned during this 10-day wine festival in late September–early October. The festival includes wine tastings, the largest wine festival parade in Germany, and a huge fireworks display on the final night.

Meissen's cathedral, the Dom, has a yearlong music program, with organ and choral concerts every Saturday in summer.

The Pfalz is home to the world's largest wine festival, held in Bad Dürkheim in mid-September in front of the world's largest wine barrel. Some 400,000 pounds of sausage are consumed during eight days of merrymaking.

Opera and operettas are performed here from September through July.

For English-language productions, try the English Theatre, continental Europe's largest English-speaking theater, which offers an array of musicals, thrillers, dramas, comedies, and poetry readings with British or American casts. The bar, James, is open before and after performances.

The English Theatre presents dramas and comedies in English as well as hosting independent productions, concerts, events, and comedies for Berlin's international community.

The name says it all: the English Theatre, first opened in 1976, is the city's premier theater for works in English. Actors from near and far bring contemporary and classic drama to life on the small stage of this historic building.

The Aachen Symphony, along with touring bands and orchestras from across Europe, give regular concerts in Aachen's Eurogress convention center.

Passau is the cultural center of Lower Bavaria. Its Europäische Wochen festival—featuring everything from opera to pantomime—is a major event on the European music calendar. The festival runs from mid-June to July or early August and is held in venues all over the city.

The huge glass-domed Festival Hall, commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1905, is the scene of many rock concerts, horse shows, ice shows, sporting events, circus and other large-scale spectaculars including trade fairs. It is on the city's fairgrounds, just 10 minutes from downtown by subway. Tickets are available through Frankfurt Ticket, or at the on-site ticket office.

While the enormous brick complex, which stands high above the Isar River in Haidhausen, is being renovated (scheduled through 2026), the former Gasteig Culture Center has a new name, Gasteig HP8, and a temporary home in the Sendling district, south of the City Center. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra performs in the Isarphilharmonie, a new modern philharmonic hall, and there are other smaller venues on the site accommodating musical and theatrical performances and films. The Gasteig can be reached in about seven minutes by the U-Bahn from Marienplatz to Brudermühlstrasse station (U3), and from there it's about a five-minute walk.

This modern convention center on the lakeside promenade also functions as a cultural center, where musicals, light opera, and classical as well as pop-rock concerts take place several times a week. The Graf-Zeppelin-Haus has a good modern restaurant with a big terrace overlooking the harbor.

For children's theater, head to the world-famous Grips Theater, whose musical hit Linie 1, about life in Berlin viewed through the subway, is just as appealing for adults.

This theater consists of three houses (HAU 1, 2, 3) within a five-minute walk of one another. Fringe theater, international modern dance, and solo performers share the stages.

The sparkling-wine cellars of Henkell & Co. offer tours lasting 60, 90 or 120 minutes, including tastings, which can be booked via the website. The tours take in both the impressive Rococo marble hall and the 200,000 liter barrels in the seven-story cellars. They also play host to art exhibitions as well as regular concerts by young classical musicians.

This highly regarded orchestral and recital venue is in the former throne room of King Ludwig I, with walls adorned with beautiful tapestries depicting the Hercules saga.

Concerts, art exhibits, and wine festivals are held at the Herrenhof in the suburb of Mussbach. Owned by the Johanniter-Orden (Order of the Knights of St. John) from the 13th to 18th century, it's the oldest wine estate in the Pfalz, also home to a wine museum that displays 19th- and 20th-century winemaking equipment (open for groups with advance booking, or during various events). Contact the Neustadt tourist office for event program details and tickets.

The Hessian State Theater was built in neo-baroque style by two famous Viennese architects for Emperor Wilhelm II, and opened in 1894. Various extensions and reconstructions have been carried out since, and the frescos, stuccowork, and sculptures are truly a sight to behold. Classical and contemporary opera, theater, ballet, and musicals are presented on the theater's four stages.

Across the street from the main train station, this is the place to check out a current calendar of events and buy discount tickets. There is also an i-Punkt kiosk at the Stuttgart Airport, Terminal 3, Level 2.

The Internationales Theater Frankfurt bills itself as presenting "the art of the world on the Main." It has regular performances in English, as well as in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Russian, plus concerts by international jazz, folk, and pop rock musicians. There also is a book-lined café, Cafe Litera.

From May through July classical-music concerts are given in the Rittersaal of the Kaiserburg.

The city is the home of the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, part of Hessischer Rundfunk. Considered one of Europe's best orchestras, it performs regularly in the 850-seat Kammermusiksaal, part of that broadcasting operation's campuslike facilities.

The operas performed here are sung in their original language (with English subtitles available on a display on the seats), but the lavish and at times over-the-top and kitschy staging and costumes make for a fun night even if you don't speak the language.

The beautifully restored hall at Konzerthaus Berlin is a prime venue for classical music concerts.