Renovation of the Berlin Philharmonic Hall: Costs could reach over a billion euros

Looking into the power boxes is like taking a little journey back in time. The Berlin Philharmonic, one of the capital's iconic buildings, needs to be renovated - and that could cost around 800 million euros, as a feasibility study commissioned by the orchestra has shown. There has been no fundamental repairs since the opening, said director Andrea Zietzschmann. Of course this is a huge investment.

The Philharmonic Hall is expected to be renovated starting in 2032 and could then remain closed until 2040. The orchestra would therefore need an alternative venue for several years. According to the study, the former Tempelhof Airport would be suitable. Around 350 million euros are budgeted for this. The total costs in the study are therefore estimated at around 1.15 billion euros.

The Berlin Philharmonic, with its chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, is one of the world's top orchestras. Their concert hall near Potsdamer Platz is one of the most famous buildings in the capital. The concert hall with its unusual shape and facade - once designed by architect Hans Scharoun - was opened in 1963.

There are now problems with fire protection, air conditioning technology and cable systems are outdated, and the sanitary facilities sometimes overflow due to blocked pipes. The orchestra announced that daily event operations could no longer be guaranteed without disruption from 2032/2033 at the latest.

There are still unanswered questions about financing. The federal government promised up to 225 million euros through the capital financing agreement. Zietzschmann said that 350 million euros have been set aside in the state of Berlin's investment budget. This brings us towards 600 million euros. This is a very good start. She now basically wants the next Berlin state government to make a quick decision.

“What my violin is to me as a violinist, this hall is to us as an orchestra - namely our instrument,” said musician Philipp Bohnen, media director of the Berlin Philharmonic. The hall “means the world to us”. “The acoustics we find here are sensational and unique in the world.” They viewed the temporary move with great concern.

“We hope that we can get this hall back with exactly these acoustics and with exactly this beauty,” said Bohnen. Their interim venue also needs very good acoustics. Because there will be a major generational change at that time and the idea that many colleagues will have been in the orchestra for several years “and have never played here in our home” is strange.

With the renovation, Berlin faces another construction site. The Pergamon Museum on Museum Island is being renovated, the first parts of which are scheduled to reopen next summer. The state library is scheduled to close for renovations for more than a decade. The new Berlin Modern Museum is currently being built near the Philharmonie.

According to the feasibility study, the renovation of the Berlin Philharmonic could cost as much as the new construction of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, which opened in 2017. Since then, construction costs have also increased, as the Philharmonic team emphasizes.

Of the estimated renovation costs of around 800 million euros for the Philharmonic, 436 million euros are budgeted for the Great Hall. 307 million euros were spent on the renovation of the smaller chamber music hall, which was opened in 1987 according to plans by the architect Edgar Wisniewski.

Other options are also being discussed as an alternative venue for the orchestra, such as the former ICC congress center or a new building on an open space. Zietzschmann, however, advocates for hangars 1 to 3 in the former Tempelhof Airport. “It would just be a really fantastic place for a project like this.” She hopes that a stable state government will be formed quickly with which they can enter into dialogue. A decision is needed in the next six months so that the schedule is not postponed any further.