Christmas in Berlin 2026: what’s open 24–26 Dec

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Christmas in Berlin 2026 runs on two clocks: shops close at 14:00 on Thursday 24 December and stay shut on the 25th and 26th, while museums, the opera and Christmas markets reopen. Christmas Day for two: from €24.

The catch is the 24th, not the 25th. Berlin celebrates on Christmas Eve, so on the 24th the state museums, most big markets and the stages are closed. The table shows what is open, day by day.

Jump to: the day-by-day table · why the 24th is the empty day · Going with someone

If you are staying in Berlin while everyone else goes home, the days go better with one fixed plan and someone else in it: see Going with someone.

Christmas in Berlin 2026, day by day

Hours and prices as published by each operator or berlin.de on 24 October 2026. “Not stated” means the operator has not published it yet.

What	Thu 24 Dec	Fri 25 Dec	Sat 26 Dec	Price
Shops	Until 14:00	Closed	Closed	Exceptions: shops in stations, BER airport and petrol stations
State museums (SMB), e.g. Neues Museum	All closed	Open, Sunday hours (Neues Museum 10:00–18:00)	Open, Sunday hours	SMB tickets · Neues Museum on Tiqets*
Jewish Museum Berlin	Closed	10:00–18:00	10:00–18:00	Core exhibition free
Zoo Berlin	9:00–14:00	9:00–16:30	9:00–16:30	Adults from €16 online, €25 at the gate
Christmas market at the Rotes Rathaus	Closed	12:00–22:00	11:00–22:00	Entry not stated
Christmas market at Schloss Charlottenburg	Closed	12:00–22:00	12:00–22:00	Free entry
WinterWelt Potsdamer Platz	Not stated	11:00–22:00	11:00–22:00, last day	Free entry
Christmas Garden	Closed	16:20–22:00	16:20–22:00	Adults €16.90–€27.90 online, €29.90 at the gate
Staatsoper Unter den Linden	No performance	La Bohème, 18:00	Die Zauberflöte, 14:00 and 19:00	€12–€135 (25th), €11–€115 (26th, 14:00)
Komische Oper, Schillertheater	No performance	Eugene Onegin, 18:00	Concert, 19:00	€14–€110 (25th), €13–€96 (26th)
The Nutcracker, Staatsballett at the Deutsche Oper	No performance	15:00 and 19:30	No performance	€43–€146 · Eventim: 15:00*, 19:30*
Friedrichstadt-Palast	No show	15:30 and 19:30	15:30 and 19:30	From €19.80 · Eventim*
St George’s Anglican Church (English)	Midnight Mass, 23:00	Eucharist, 10:00	–	–
Hofbräu Wirtshaus Christmas brunch	–	10:00–15:00	10:00–15:00	€31.90 per adult

Links marked * are affiliate links: if you book through them, MITRA earns a small commission. The price is the same for you.

Christmas Eve is the day Berlin shuts, not Christmas Day

In Germany the presents come on the evening of the 24th, and the city closes around that. Under Berlin’s shop-opening law, shops must be shut from 14:00 on 24 December, and on public holidays they stay closed. All the state museums close on the 24th, the zoo closes at 14:00, the markets at the Rotes Rathaus and Schloss Charlottenburg are shut, and the Staatsoper, Komische Oper and Friedrichstadt-Palast have no performance. The Spandau market and the Lucia market at the Kulturbrauerei end on 22 December. The exception is the WeihnachtsZauber on the Gendarmenmarkt, which visitBerlin lists as open 12:00–18:00 on the 24th.

What stays open on the 24th is mostly church, the Gendarmenmarkt until 18:00 and a few ticketed events. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche holds Christmas Eve services at 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00; the 20:00 one is a jazz service, “Blue Christmas”. St George’s holds an English Midnight Mass at 23:00. Yorck’s Heilige Previewnacht at the Filmtheater am Friedrichshain starts at 17:00: five secret previews, a vegan meal and a welcome drink for €59. At the top end, the Adlon’s Christmas Eve buffet costs €220 a head.

Our rule: buy food before 14:00 on the 24th, do the zoo in the morning (it closes at 14:00), and put the plans on the 25th. If the markets are why you came, the full list with 2026 dates is in our Berlin Christmas markets guide, and everything else that month is in Berlin events in December 2026.

Going with someone

If you live alone in Berlin, you are not the exception. Half of Berlin’s households are one person living alone: 977,000 of about 1.95 million in 2025, according to the Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. In a YouGov survey of 14,959 adults in Germany in December 2023, 15% said they let Christmas pass without family, traditions, presents or a special meal often or (almost) every year.

What works at Christmas is a fixed plan with a time on it. “Want to hang out over the holidays?” dies in a group chat; “Christmas market at the Rotes Rathaus at 16:00, then La Bohème at 18:00” gets a yes or a no. Both are in Mitte, and the opera has a start time, so nobody has to fill an open evening with small talk. We find a show and a mulled wine easier to share with someone new than a dinner table.

Staying in Berlin for Christmas and want company for the 25th? Post the place and the time on MITRA, say the Christmas Garden at 17:00 or the Nutcracker at 15:00. Someone can ask to join, and you approve each person. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store

Christmas Day: the full day

The 25th is the easiest day of the three. All state museums open with Sunday hours, the Jewish Museum’s core exhibition is free, and the zoo runs 9:00–16:30. The market at the Rotes Rathaus opens at 12:00, Charlottenburg at 12:00, and the Christmas Garden light trail in the Botanic Garden from 16:20, last entry 20:20.

On stage: La Bohème at the Staatsoper at 18:00, from €12 to €135. Two of the €12 seats and a walk around Charlottenburg’s free market make a Christmas Day for two from €24, if you get them; the cheapest seats go first. The Staatsballett dances the Nutcracker at 15:00 and 19:30 (€43–€146 at both shows), and the Friedrichstadt-Palast plays at 15:30 and 19:30 from €19.80. Its Young Ticket is not valid from 25 to 31 December. Eventim adds booking fees on top of the official prices.

For food, the Hofbräu Wirtshaus at Alexanderplatz runs a Christmas brunch on the 25th and 26th, 10:00–15:00, at €31.90 per adult. We would book the brunch, the zoo or a museum in the day and one show in the evening: it is enough, and every part of it has a start time.

Boxing Day: music and the last markets

On Saturday 26 December the Staatsoper plays Die Zauberflöte at 14:00 (€11–€115) and 19:00. The Komische Oper has a concert performance, “Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten”, at 19:00, €13–€96. In the Philharmonie’s Kammermusiksaal, David Hermlin and his Swing Dance Orchestra play a Christmas programme at 20:00.

It is also the last day of the WinterWelt at Potsdamer Platz, with its toboggan run, open 11:00–22:00. Charlottenburg’s market runs one day longer, until 27 December. For something on ice, see ice skating in Berlin.

Spend some of it helping

Frank Zander’s Christmas party for homeless people takes place on Tuesday 22 December 2026 at the Estrel Hotel. Volunteers apply through the form on the site until 31 October 2026, and helpers are drawn by lot in early November. If you miss it, our guide to volunteering in Berlin lists places that take helpers all year.

Shops, transport and pools

Forgot something on the 25th? Under the shop-opening rules, shops in stations, at BER airport and at petrol stations may open on holidays, but they sell travel supplies; shops at long-distance stations may also sell everyday goods. Pharmacies on emergency duty are open too.

Last year the S-Bahn ran a Sunday timetable on 25 and 26 December 2025, with night service; the 2026 plan was not out when we checked, so check BVG and S-Bahn in December. Do not count on a swim: in 2025 the Berliner Bäder-Betriebe kept all pools closed on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December, the Berliner Zeitung reported; the 2026 plan was not published when we checked.

FAQ

Nobody to go with on the 26th? Pick the show, the market or the zoo, post the place and the time on MITRA, and approve whoever asks to join: one person or a small group. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store

Tickets

• Nutcracker, 25 Dec: Staatsballett · Eventim 15:00*, 19:30*
• Friedrichstadt-Palast, 25 and 26 Dec: palast.berlin · Eventim*
• Staatsoper, 25 and 26 Dec: staatsoper-berlin.de
• Komische Oper, 25 and 26 Dec: komische-oper-berlin.de
• Philharmonie, 26 Dec: berliner-philharmoniker.de
• Neues Museum: SMB tickets · Tiqets*
• Zoo Berlin: zoo-berlin.de
• Christmas Garden: christmas-garden.de
• Heilige Previewnacht, 24 Dec: yorck.de

If you will spend some of the holidays on your own, things to do alone in Berlin has ideas that work on a quiet day.

Want to keep reading?

• Berlin Christmas markets 2026
• The Nutcracker in Berlin
• Christmas Garden Berlin
• New Year’s Eve in Berlin
• How to make friends in Berlin

Every price and date checked on the organiser’s own site or berlin.de on 24 October 2026.

Sources

• https://www.berlin.de/ba-treptow-koepenick/politik-und-verwaltung/aemter/ordnungsamt/artikel.86310.php
• https://www.berlin.de/ba-mitte/politik-und-verwaltung/aemter/ordnungsamt/gewerbe-gaststaetten-und-spielhallenangelegenheiten/gesetzliche-grundlagen-zum-ladenschlussrecht-823235.php
• https://www.smb.museum/besuch-planen/sonderoeffnungszeiten-an-feiertagen/
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• https://www.jmberlin.de/en/planning-your-visit
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• https://www.christmas-garden.de/berlin/besuch/
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• https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/concert/calendar/57421/
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• https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/article/berliner-schwimmbaeder-keine-oeffnung-der-an-weihnachten-und-silvester-2025-10011573
• https://www.visitberlin.de/de/weihnachtsmarkt-weihnachtszauber-gendarmenmarkt-berlin
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• https://www.tiqets.com/de/attraktionen-und-aktivitaten-in-berlin-c65144/tickets-fur-neues-museum-eintrittskarte-p974545/