Berlin is closed

Dark at night until early December, with the two outer passages shut.

The Gate stays open, but its floodlights went off on 26 October 2026 while the state property manager BIM replaces the 2002 system, which breaks down often and needs spare parts that are hard to find. All 281 lamps are being swapped for LEDs, and the control system and electrics are renewed too. The work costs about €1.2m and should cut the power used by about 40%. The two outer passages are closed during the work. The central passage stays open, with a glowing ball in it to show that work is going on. The lights should come back on in early December, looking as they did before.

Brandenburger Tor: the full entry

Empty since 2014. Building work could start in 2029.

West Berlin's silver spaceship closed for asbestos removal in 2014 and never reopened. In June 2026 the Senate recommended awarding the site to a project partnership on a 99-year lease, to turn it into a culture and creative quarter with two new towers. In September the partnership was given exclusive negotiating rights until June 2027; the lease still needs the Abgeordnetenhaus. First construction could begin in 2029, with phased opening from 2032 or 2033.

ICC Berlin: the full entry

Closed since 2018. Nine years and counting.

Gropius's 1979 building shut in spring 2018 for restoration and a new museum tower by Volker Staab. Construction is now targeted to finish at the end of 2026, with public opening planned for winter 2027/28 — the latest of several slips. The budget has gone from €64m to €90m. A temporary bauhaus-archiv in Charlottenburg carries the programme in the meantime.

Bauhaus-Archiv: the full entry

Ten years to replace the air conditioning.

The baroque Zeughaus — the oldest building on Unter den Linden — emptied in 2021 so its climate control could be replaced. Strip-out work runs into mid-2027 and a binding schedule is not expected before 2027. The museum says a reopening with a new permanent exhibition is not realistic before 2031. The adjoining Pei building stays open.

Deutsches Historisches Museum: the full entry

Picasso and Klee have been on tour since 2022.

The Stülerbau closed in September 2022 for a full overhaul — roof, facade, basement sealing, modern museum technology, photovoltaics. Reopening was announced for 2025, then 2026; in November 2026 the Nationalgalerie's press office told Berlin Is Closed the date is still open. In October 2026 the building was still largely under scaffolding, and the collection, which has toured Japan, China, Europe, Australia and the US, goes on show in Miami until 28 February 2027.

Museum Berggruen: the full entry

Nearly five years of replacement buses.

The northern U6 has been closed since November 2022 for renewal of track, embankments, bridges and stations. A long frost period pushed the schedule back again; BVG now expects trains to run from the first day of the 2027 school year, 16 August.

U6 north: the full entry

The city's own museum, shut for five years.

The world's first purpose-built city museum, opened 1908, closed at the start of 2023. Reopening was planned for 2025/26 and is now given as 2028. The work adds a ground-level entrance and step-free access through eight storeys — the tower, long closed, will finally be open to the public.

Märkisches Museum: the full entry

Kreuzberg's wave pool, stripped back to the shell.

The Berliner Bäder-Betriebe closed the wave pool on Spreewaldplatz in 2023 and began a complete renovation that autumn, which they put at about three and a half years. In February 2026 the Senate said the building work should finish in the third quarter of 2027, followed by six to ten weeks of fitting out, a test run and health-office checks. Nobody has published a reopening date.

Wellenbad am Spreewaldplatz: the full entry

A building site that barely moves.

The company moved out in summer 2023 for a rebuild and extension. A construction freeze in the 2024 savings round was withdrawn in January 2025; instead the Senate stretched the project into the 2030s. The opera foundation borrowed against its own office building to pay for 2026, and the Land has promised €20m a year for 2027 and 2028. Nothing is funded after that. Inside, strip-out and securing work goes on; the extension has barely moved. Completion is put at 2030 to 2033, on a budget of €478m. Performances continue at the Schillertheater.

Komische Oper: the full entry

Three hundred metres of Italy, under wraps until 2029.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV's homesick Italian fantasy — twin towers, arcades, terraces and the Raphael Hall with its 49 copies — has been closed to visitors since restoration resumed in summer 2023. Roofs and facades of the whole building are being redone and the stored roof sculpture put back on the balustrades. The eastern plant hall and north-east pavilion run to the end of 2027; the courtyard and western pavilions from mid-2026 to the end of 2028; the western plant hall and the north side from late 2027 to mid-2029.

Orangerieschloss: the full entry

The stars went out in 2023.

Closed on 9 July 2023 for a rebuild into an astronomy education centre — new star projector, fulldome, LED, a new projection dome and "Kosmos Labs" teaching rooms. Seating drops to about 240 to make room for wheelchairs. Due back in 2028. The Wilhelm-Foerster observatory next door stays open.

Planetarium am Insulaner: the full entry

The north wing returns in 2027. The Ishtar Gate waits until 2037.

Closed completely in October 2023. The north wing and central building return on 4 June 2027 with the Pergamon Altar, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, the Aleppo Room and the Mschatta Facade. The south wing — and with it the main holdings of the Vorderasiatisches Museum, including the Ishtar Gate — stays behind hoarding until 2037.

Pergamonmuseum: the full entry

Nobody ever bathed here. Nobody can visit either.

Schinkel and Persius built the ensemble between 1829 and 1841 as a stage set rather than a bath house, and it has been in a desolate state for years. Foundations, retaining walls, roofs, rendered facades, interiors, wall paintings and the garden architecture are all being put right. Work started in May 2024, the topping-out was celebrated in May 2026, and the reopening is planned for 2029 — in time for Schinkel's 250th birthday in 2031. Parts never shown before, including the viridarium and the stables, open with it.

Römische Bäder: the full entry

The room where Germany was carved up, shut until 2029.

The last palace the Hohenzollerns built, and the house where Truman, Stalin, Churchill and Attlee redrew Europe in 1945. Closed to visitors since 1 November 2024 while the empty hotel wing — about three quarters of the building — is rebuilt for 38 rooms, a public restaurant and the first lift in the east wing. The museum entrance moves to the western portal and becomes step-free. The published plan was a reopening in summer or autumn 2027; by April 2025 the SPSG had pushed the works to December 2028, and in April 2026 it put the reopening of palace and hotel in 2029. The grounds in the Neuer Garten stay open, so you can still see it from outside.

Schloss Cecilienhof: the full entry

Back in use in 2020, shut again five years later.

The rococo theatre inside the Neues Palais was brought back into service in 2020 after its own restoration. It closed again in 2025, and is expected to stay shut until the end of 2027, while the palace's reception rooms below are rebuilt: the Untere Rote Kammern and the Marquis d'Argens apartment become the info point, cloakroom, catering kitchen, step-free toilets and a lift serving both the museum floor and the theatre.

Schlosstheater: the full entry

Shut overnight in March 2025, and demolished weeks later.

Inspectors found damage severe enough to close both A100 bridges at no notice in March 2025. They were knocked down within weeks. Rebuilding started in October 2025 under a bonus-malus contract — money for finishing early, penalties for running late. The steel spans of the new Ringbahnbrücke were lifted into place from 10 to 13 July 2026, and in September the motorway between the two bridges began to be rebuilt from the ground up. Traffic is due back in summer 2027, and both bridges are meant to finish together.

Ringbahnbrücke & Westendbrücke: the full entry

The view over the Olympic grounds, closed until further notice.

The bell tower above the Maifeld could not open for the 2025 season: rebuilding the Maifeld stands for the Sportmuseum left it without a safe way in. The Senate told parliament it meant to reopen the tower in the second quarter of 2026. The city's Olympiapark page still says it is closed until further notice, and no new date has been given.

Glockenturm: the full entry

Marx and Engels fenced in until the end of 2027.

The park between the Spree and the TV tower, with its bronze Marx and Engels, has been mostly fenced off since early July 2025 for a €33.9m redesign by Grün Berlin: wide steps and a ramp down to the river, a 2,300 m² playground, almost 90 new trees and ground that soaks up rainwater. The riverside path has been shut too since November 2025, with signed detours. Archaeologists recorded cellars of the old houses on Burgstraße before they were covered over again. The Senate expects the forum to be mostly finished by the end of 2027 and said in February 2026 that the work is on schedule. The Rathausforum north of Spandauer Straße is redesigned after that, with the whole area due in 2030.

Marx-Engels-Forum: the full entry

Neptune stays behind hoarding until spring.

Since May 2026 the 1891 fountain in front of the Rotes Rathaus has been hidden behind scaffolding and timber walls while Mitte renews the basin, its sealing and the fountain machinery and restores the rock and bronze figures. Completion was planned for the end of 2026, at about €1.2m. In November 2026 the district's press office told Berlin Is Closed that work is paused for the Christmas market: Neptune and his rock are finished, the basin restoration resumes in January, weather permitting, followed by the bronze figures on the rim and the fountain machinery. The fountain is now due to be finished and running again at the end of April 2027.

Neptunbrunnen: the full entry

Six months with no regional trains across the centre.

From 14 June to 12 December 2026 no regional or long-distance trains run between Charlottenburg and Ostbahnhof — the elevated line past Zoo, Hauptbahnhof, Friedrichstraße and Alexanderplatz. RE1 and RE7 terminate at the edges; RE2 diverts via Gesundbrunnen and Ostkreuz. The S-Bahn runs throughout and is the way across town.

Berliner Stadtbahn: the full entry

The President has moved out for eight years.

The Federal President's office left the palace in July 2026 for a temporary seat on the Spreebogen, so that Bellevue can be renovated from top to bottom. About eight years are expected. Planning and building costs are put at €601m, with a further €188m held against risk. The palace was only ever open to the public on open days.

Schloss Bellevue: the full entry

The broken tooth, shut since the end of August.

The exhibition in the 1987 Hall of Remembrance closed on 29 August 2026, and the ruined tower with it. When it returns in 2028 or 2029 there will be new levels and a lift carrying visitors high into the ruin, a new exhibition, and — for the first time — an admission charge. The modern church follows: it is due to close for about two years from early summer 2027 and reopen, still free, in 2029. Eiermann's bell tower, scaffolded for roughly a decade, is repaired from 2027; the wider ensemble runs to eight construction phases.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche: the full entry

Fourteen months of taking the long way round to the west.

Since 2 October 2026 the fast line between Berlin-Spandau and Fallersleben has been shut for a corridor renovation running to December 2027. The old Lehrter Stammbahn alongside was meant to carry single-track diversions from December, but its electrification has slipped to December 2027, so for most of the works neither line carries trains. Through the whole 2027 timetable only three ICEs every two hours run each way, via Potsdam, Magdeburg and Braunschweig, about 80 minutes slower. Until 12 December regional trains between Stendal, Rathenow and Spandau are replaced by buses; the regional plan for 2027 has not been published.

Berlin – Hannover: the full entry

Berlin's oldest palace is shut for its ceilings.

Damaged ceiling plaster on the first and second floors has closed the hunting lodge on the Grunewaldsee since 2 November 2026. The SPSG expects the work to last until April 2027, confirmed that in November 2026, but has not named a reopening day. The ground floor opens for the Christmas market on 5 and 6 December and on selected event dates until April 2027, announced on the SPSG website; the courtyard and café are not affected.

Jagdschloss Grunewald: the full entry

Permanent exhibition stripped out until 2027.

The only botanical museum in central Europe has its permanent exhibition closed for a full re-fit, expected to last until around 2027. Temporary exhibitions and the botanic garden itself stay open.

Botanisches Museum: the full entry

The karaoke bowl is next.

Grün Berlin has been renewing the park in stages since December 2022, on a budget of about €16m for the whole park. In October 2026 the fences moved to the northern hill; the amphitheatre, home of the Sunday karaoke, follows once the 2026 season is over. Both are due to be finished by spring 2027.

Mauerpark: the full entry

Shut four nights a week for want of people to watch it.

A road tunnel over 400 metres long must be watched at all times from a staffed control room, and the 2.4km tunnel past the Hauptbahnhof does not have enough people to do it. Since April 2026 it has been shut again and again at night, in both directions. As of October 2026 it closes until further notice on Monday to Thursday nights, from about 21:45 to 05:45. Lorries and buses are allowed back in: the ban on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, imposed in December 2024 after several ventilation fans failed, was lifted on 30 July 2025 once the repaired fans were reinstalled. The twenty-year-old ventilation still needs replacing in the medium term.

Tiergartentunnel: the full entry

Rotting under tarpaulins at €800,000 a year.

The stands of the 1936 Olympic swimming stadium are closed to the public and falling apart under sheeting, with the city spending €806,820 a year simply stopping them getting worse. Taking them down and rebuilding them is put at about €61.2m; in 2026 the Senate paused its review of the plans because the money has not been found. The scheme for ten lanes, new stands and a folding roof was tied to an Olympic bid, and Berlin withdrew that bid on 24 September 2026. The open-air pool still operates in summer.

Olympia-Schwimmstadion: the full entry

Under renovation since 2015, with the S-Bahn hall gutted.

Deutsche Bahn has been renovating Bahnhof Zoo from the ground up since the end of February 2015, at a cost of about €250m, and expects all the work to be finished in 2032, when the track hall over the S-Bahn platforms is done. That hall has been closed since 2022 and is now largely gutted. Trains keep running throughout. Entwicklungsstadt reports the current plan as reopening the S-Bahn hall in 2028 and finishing the halls over the tracks by 2029.

Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten: the full entry

Cracked in 2018. Half a new bridge so far.

Cracks found in the prestressed concrete in 2018 forced a complete rebuild of the 190-metre double structure. A 1,500-tonne steel temporary bridge, held together by 20,000 bolts, carried all traffic from 2022. Since June 2026 the first new half has taken the three lanes towards Treptow, while traffic towards Friedrichshain still crosses on the temporary bridge — the last thing to come out before the second new half goes in. Full completion is expected in 2028 at a total of €97.7m.

Elsenbrücke: the full entry

Six years to rehouse an elephant.

The 1980s Dickhäuterhaus — the Tierpark's most popular building — has been stripped back and rebuilt since summer 2020 into what the zoo calls Europe's largest and most modern elephant house, 16,300 square metres of savannah shared with zebras, giraffes and antelope. Pori and her family moved back on 9 and 10 June 2026 and have been on show outside since 27 June; the house itself is due to open in early 2027.

Tierpark elephant house: the full entry

The hexagon is a building site until 2032.

Since the last plane left in November 2020, Tegel's listed hexagonal terminal has been earmarked for the Urban Tech Republic research campus, with the Schumacher Quartier — around 5,000 homes for more than 10,000 people — alongside it. Ground was broken in July 2026 on turning Terminal A into a campus for the Berliner Hochschule für Technik, with €170m of the roughly €450m from the federal special fund. The district expects 2,500 students from about 2030; the main construction is due to finish in 2032. A district park is pencilled in for 2027–2030, first homes from 2028/29, the rest through the 2030s.

Flughafen Tegel: the full entry

Performing inside a five-year refit.

A renovation that began in early 2023 and is due to finish at the start of 2028, in three phases deliberately staged so the house never goes dark: lifts, building services, fire safety and a thermal overhaul of the 1961 block. The €50m budget covers only two of the three phases.

Deutsche Oper: the full entry

One of Europe's largest buildings, with no repair budget.

The terminal stays in use for tours, events and exhibitions — the exhibition in its tower alone drew over 125,000 visitors in 2025 — while needing work on its roof, structure and services. The roof works, once due to finish at the end of 2026, now run into early 2027. The Senate has declined to fund comprehensive renovation from special reserves, so the rest has no timetable.

Flughafen Tempelhof: the full entry

The tower is finished. The scaffolding isn't.

Scaffolding went up around the 80-metre tower in June 2023 for the roof structure, roof covering, concrete repairs to the mansard and structural work. The tower is now done; the southern roof is due to finish in the last quarter of 2027, with the scaffolding gone by the end of 2027 or early 2028. The district concedes the job is over time and over budget. The €20m from the Senate covers the town hall and a new office building together.

Rathaus Spandau: the full entry

Open throughout — and a building site until the mid-2030s.

A €660m staged rebuild of the Invalidenstraße building runs to roughly 2035, alongside a second research site at Adlershof. The west wing, the current construction phase, is due to be finished at the end of 2026; its historic halls, later including the Historic Bird Hall, then reopen step by step. The museum stays open section by section as the work moves through it, so what you can see depends on when you come.

Museum für Naturkunde: the full entry

Demolition and rebuild in the middle of the old city.

The 1960s bridge between the Nikolaiviertel and Fischerinsel is being demolished and replaced in sections. Utility lines were shifted onto a provisional route from June 2024 and the first closures followed in July. The whole measure is scheduled to finish in 2028/29 at around €80m.

Mühlendammbrücke: the full entry

Frederick the Great's show palace, in scaffolding by halves.

The copper roof, the original roof structure and the balustrade with its sculpture are being renewed across the whole building, section by section. The theatre wing went first under the earlier programme; the current phase began on the theatre wing and southern corps de logis in October 2024 and further sections follow to 2028. The palace stays open throughout — you just have to accept that part of it is behind scaffolding whenever you go.

Neues Palais: the full entry

Every shop gone, the trains still running.

Berlin's busiest interchange is being gutted from the inside: walls and false ceilings out, fire protection and services entirely renewed. All the shops and snack bars were cleared out at the start of 2026 and replaced with portable toilets and a temporary travel centre. The main works are due to start in spring or summer 2027 and run to the end of 2029; after acceptance checks, DB InfraGO expects the whole project finished in mid-2030. Trains keep running through the station, which is the point — this is years of building work around passengers who cannot be sent anywhere else.

Bahnhof Alexanderplatz: the full entry

Replacing the roof takes five years.

Around €70m of maintenance and modernisation runs to 2029 — the largest programme at the stadium since 2004. Both roof membranes have to be replaced on age grounds: that alone takes five years and about €15m. In 2020 work was under way on five of the 136 external columns carrying the roof. The stadium stays in use throughout.

Olympiastadion: the full entry

The palace is open. The grounds are dug up.

A €12.96m overhaul of everything around the palace, begun in 2020, is due to finish in 2029, according to the SPSG's project page. The terrace, the theatre forecourt and the area around the Neuer Pavillon are done; the orange garden between the two orangeries and the Princesses' garden were due in 2026, with the Court of Honour, Luisenplatz and the palace square to follow, and the garden paths rebuilt throughout. A separate visitor centre west of the forecourt is planned for 2029, but in November 2026 the SPSG said it still has no building permit. The palace itself stays open.

Schloss Charlottenburg: the full entry

"Ich bin ein Berliner." Now say it over a cement mixer.

Kennedy spoke from the steps here on 26 June 1963 to a crowd of 450,000. The building is now one of the city's most expensive headaches. The money is at last settled — €147m in the Senate's investment plan, in six stages — but the district expects at least 14 to 15 years of work with the building in use, and has published no start date. The 70-metre tower needs millimetre-precise work so the ten-tonne Freedom Bell is not shaken loose. It still rings at noon, every day.

Rathaus Schöneberg: the full entry

Abandoned in 2002. Open again in spring 2027.

The GDR-era fairground has stood derelict since 2002. The core area — Ferris wheel, English Village, amphitheatre — is due to be finished at the end of 2026, with opening in spring 2027.

Spreepark: the full entry

Germany's costliest new museum — topped out, and still years off.

Herzog & de Meuron's barn for the Nationalgalerie's 20th-century collection has been under construction since 2019. Moisture damage in the shell is the latest delay; completion is now put at around the middle of 2030. Costs have risen from an early €200m to €526.5m. Works by Dix and Warhol stay in storage until it opens.

berlin modern: the full entry

The second central bridge to come down this decade.

Bridge inspections have already capped the 1977 structure at 3.5 tonnes, which keeps lorries and buses off the Leipziger Straße crossing at Spittelmarkt. Ground surveys ran from January to September 2026; tree felling along both riverbanks starts in November and the tiny forest at Gertraudenhain is being moved. Demolition of the first half begins in early 2027, with the other half kept open to traffic; the job runs to the end of 2029, at about €40m, alongside a redesign of Spittelmarkt and the riverbanks and provision for a future tram. The riverside paths close for the duration.

Neue Gertraudenbrücke: the full entry

The camp where East Germans arrived closes for a rebuild until 2029.

The former emergency reception camp at Marienfelde is where people fleeing East Germany arrived in West Berlin. Its museum, run by the Berlin Wall Foundation, closes from Monday 21 December 2026 while the historic building is fully renovated and rebuilt as a new place of learning and history. It is also shut on 17 November 2026 for preparatory work. The foundation plans to reopen it in 2029.

Notaufnahmelager Marienfelde: the full entry

Torn down and rebuilt under a working U-Bahn, 2027 to 2032.

The bridge carrying Schönhauser Allee over the Ringbahn is to be demolished and rebuilt in two halves, under the U2 viaduct, which gets new foundations as part of the job. The Senate gives 2027 to 2032. Preparatory work began in November 2026: traffic-safety works from 2 November, and from 13 November gas, water and sewer lines on the west side and the central promenade are moved, until about March 2027. The four main phases run from 2028 to 2032. In October 2026 BVG spoke of 2027 for the first work, a new support for the viaduct. For the whole build the M1 tram ends south of the bridge, with replacement buses north to Vinetastraße. The U2 and the S-Bahn ring will both have temporary closures during the main phases, with the U2 to Pankow cut twice in 2027. Cars, bikes and pedestrians share whichever half of the bridge is standing. The work is paid for from the federal infrastructure fund.

Schönhauser-Allee-Brücke: the full entry

Next summer they swap which trains you cannot catch.

Once the regional tracks reopen in December 2026, the work moves to the S-Bahn. From 11 June to 2 September 2027 no S-Bahn trains run between Friedrichstraße and Tiergarten, cutting the S3, S5, S7 and S9 off from Hauptbahnhof. Ten worn expansion joints on the Hauptbahnhof bridges are the main job, with new points at Tiergarten and bridge bearings in Moabit. Regional trains will be back on the viaduct but do not stop at Bellevue or Tiergarten. No replacement-bus plan has been published.

Berliner Stadtbahn: the full entry

Union leave home for a season and a half.

The ground is to be largely demolished and rebuilt. In September 2026 the club put the move-out back from summer to the end of December 2027, after the traditional Christmas carol singing. Union play at the Olympiastadion in the meantime and plan to be home again for the 2029/30 season.

Stadion An der Alten Försterei: the full entry

Twenty-eight months with no U1 or U3 through Gleisdreieck.

The steel bridges carrying the U1 and U3 at Gleisdreieck, among the oldest structures on the network, are to be replaced together with the bridge over Dennewitzstraße. The Senate told parliament in April 2025 that the line must close for it from February 2028 to June 2030, 28 months in all. In July 2026 the BVG amended its planning application (fewer trees felled, more transplanted, a protected walkway), and the Senate has yet to conclude the procedure, so that timetable is no longer certain and no binding start date has been given. Nollendorfplatz station and its tunnels follow, with works from October 2027 to June 2032.

U1 and U3 at Gleisdreieck: the full entry

Scharoun's library closes in 2030 for eleven years.

The listed 1978 reading room shuts from 2030 until around 2041. 5.4 million books must be moved and a replacement building put up at Tiergartenstraße for some 650 staff. The federal budget is €1.1bn with a further €350m held against risk. The Unter den Linden house is unaffected and stays open.

Staatsbibliothek: the full entry

Closes in 2032. For eight years.

Scharoun's 1963 hall, and the Kammermusiksaal with it, is due to shut from 2032 — shortly after the orchestra's 150th anniversary that May — for around eight years. A feasibility study puts the whole exercise — renovation plus moving the orchestra out — at €1.15bn, of which the temporary hall alone is €353m. The orchestra prefers two halls in the Tempelhof hangars; the ICC has also been floated. In September 2026 the federal government pledged up to €225m towards the renovation in the new capital-city funding agreement, subject to future budgets. Nothing is decided on the interim venue, and the orchestra wants a decision from the new Senate within six months.

Berliner Philharmonie: the full entry

Last in the queue, and the queue runs to 2037.

Schinkel's 1830 museum is the final building in the Museumsinsel master plan and its full renovation is still outstanding. Planning is done, but the foundation will not run two projects this size side by side, and the Pergamonmuseum is not finished until 2037. It now puts the general renovation in the 2030s and calls an earlier start unlikely; in November 2026 the Museumsinsel press office confirmed the works are to begin in the 2030s, with no date or even year yet fixed. No closure dates have been announced.

Altes Museum: the full entry

Two and a half years with no S-Bahn under the centre.

Building the second north–south tunnel means closing the existing one between Potsdamer Platz and Brandenburger Tor for roughly two and a half years, taking the S1, S2, S25 and S26 out of the middle of the city. The difficulty is docking the new line into the Heuboden, a 1930s tunnel stub now used for storage, which has to be partly rebuilt. No date has been fixed.

S-Bahn Nord-Süd-Tunnel: the full entry

A monument to 1989, thirteen years late.

The walk-on rocking bowl in front of the Humboldt Forum was first due for completion in 2013. In 2024 both the general contractor and its steel builder went insolvent, leaving the finished 150-tonne shell at the works. In September 2026 the federal government said no completion date can be set until a court confirms an insolvency plan, and in November 2026 a spokeswoman for the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media told Berlin Is Closed there is still no legally confirmed plan on which further steps and dates could be based. About €10.8m had been paid out since building began in 2020, and an audit was ordered. The draft federal budget puts the total at about €28.7m, which the government says is enough. The site in front of the Schlossfreiheit has been largely still.

Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal: the full entry

Berlin's oldest square, dug up for decades and nearly ready to build on.

The site of Berlin's oldest square was cleared for a road scheme in the 1960s and excavated by archaeologists for years afterwards. In June 2026 Senator Gaebler said the archaeological work was now complete (a report a few weeks earlier had still spoken of digging into 2027). The second realisation competition, for Blocks A and B/2 in four lots, was decided on 29 June 2026, and the state housing company WBM will now negotiate with the three prize-winning teams per lot. The development plan for Blocks A and B was adopted on 24 July 2026. WBM gives a build period of December 2029 to June 2033 for its 220 flats. New squares, tree planting and paving that traces the outline of the old mint are planned, but no construction start or completion date has been published for the quarter as a whole.

Molkenmarkt: the full entry

The museum that cancelled its own building.

A new museum of exile was to rise behind the surviving portal of the Anhalter Bahnhof. At a projected €130m the building was abandoned. The foundation is instead fitting out a listed villa at Fasanenstraße 24 near the Kurfürstendamm, with opening most likely in early 2028, the museum told Berlin Is Closed in November 2026. A first exhibition, "Von hier aus", is on in the villa from 2 October 2026 to 31 January 2027 as a preview. In 2027 the building is renovated, a lift included, so that it can then open as a step-free museum. The portal itself was never at stake: a new building would have left it untouched too.

Exilmuseum: the full entry

A €20m expansion, still on the drawing board.

The 1967 building at the edge of the Grunewald holds the largest collection of the Brücke group anywhere. A €20m listed-building renovation and extension will add exhibition space, store, research and education rooms. In September 2026 the jury gave first prize to Barkow Leibinger; the Senate now negotiates with all three prize-winners before awarding the job, and overruns are already expected. No construction dates or closure period have been set.

Brücke-Museum: the full entry

A new front door, once someone schedules it.

A new entrance building is planned between the main hall and the historic head building: foyer, orientation, step-free access, restaurant, shop and a publicly accessible roof park, with photovoltaics. Vienna's querkraft architekten were appointed after a multi-stage competition. The state property manager BIM appointed the general planners in August 2025, and the museum expects planning to finish in 2028. No construction dates have been announced.

Deutsches Technikmuseum: the full entry

Saved from the cuts. Now it has to close.

The overhaul of the Mediterranean glasshouse was halted in the savings rounds and confirmed again by the Senate on 19 May 2026, with about €29m of federal money. The garden says work could begin in spring 2027, closing the house for two to three years. No firm dates have been published.

Mittelmeerhaus: the full entry

Twelve years shut. It can be done.

The little glasshouse in front of the Great Pavilion was so far gone by 2006 that it could not hold visitors or plants — damp walls, failed systems. Restoration finally started in 2013 and it reopened in summer 2018. Proof that Berlin does finish things, eventually.

Victoriahaus: the full entry

In and out in three years.

One of the largest glasshouses in the world — 60 metres long, 25 metres high — closed in 2006 because it leaked heat, and reopened in September 2009 with its steel-and-glass structure rebuilt. Three years, start to finish, which by the standards of this page is indecent haste.

Großes Tropenhaus: the full entry

Seven years asleep, open since May 2025.

Closed since 2018, with restoration of roof, facades, both towers and the bridge starting in September 2021. The interiors have been accessible again by guided tour since 25 May 2025.

Schloss Pfaueninsel: the full entry

Six years, one very controversial floor.

Berlin's Catholic cathedral shut in September 2018 and reopened on 24 November 2024, after a rebuild that filled in the famous opening between the upper and lower church — a change fought over for years. The budget, originally around €60m including the neighbouring Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Haus, did not survive contact with inflation.

St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale: the full entry

Seven years down there, and it came back.

Closed in 2019, the crypt beneath the cathedral — around 90 Hohenzollern burials — reopened to the public on 1 March 2026 after roughly six years of building work and more than ten years of planning. At €29.5m it is the largest project at the Dom since its postwar reconstruction.

Hohenzollern crypt: the full entry

Thirty-four thousand panes of glass later.

Schinkel's 1821 house went through an energy overhaul from October 2022 to the end of 2023 — more than 34,000 window panes restored, new ventilation plant, high-efficiency chillers and LED throughout, cutting around 221 tonnes of CO₂ a year. It ran alongside the rebuild of the Gendarmenmarkt outside.

Konzerthaus Berlin: the full entry

Fully open again after three years.

The 1913 aquarium came fully back on 18 August 2026 after a three-year modernisation: a new lift, rebuilt entrance and washrooms, and rebuilt tanks — including an 110,000-litre basin with 14cm acrylic panes weighing two tonnes each.

Aquarium Berlin: the full entry

The GDR's grandest cinema, back near enough on time.

The 1963 premiere house on Karl-Marx-Allee closed on 14 May 2024 and the builders moved in the next morning. Around 80 per cent of the technology was replaced behind a listed facade, glass front and roof. Regular screenings resumed on 26 February 2026, with the official gala on 3 March — under two years, which around here counts as a miracle.

Kino International: the full entry

Back up the tower, in time to turn 100.

The observation deck and the restaurant at 55 metres reopened in March 2026 after a ten-month closure to repair the steelwork and modernise the building services. The Funkturm turned 100 on 3 September 2026.

Funkturm: the full entry

Ten and a half months without a direct train to Hamburg.

The 278km line closed completely on 1 August 2025 for the first corridor renovation to touch Berlin. Long-distance trains went the long way round via Stendal and Uelzen, adding about 45 minutes; regional passengers got buses. The reopening set for 30 April 2026 was called off that February because the signalling work overran. The western half came back on 15 May 2026 and the whole line on 14 June. The bill rose from €2.2bn to about €2.7bn.

Berlin – Hamburg: the full entry