30 years, 30 hours

Staying up all night at the Hamburger Bahnhof

The Hamburger Bahnhof is offering night-time exhibition tours, a vinyl listening night, films, pyjama tours and much more to mark its 30th birthday, from 11.00 am on Saturday 14 November until 6.00 pm on Sunday 15 November.

On 3 November 1996, the Hamburger Bahnhof opened its doors as Berlin’s museum of contemporary art. Thirty years on, the museum is inviting its visitors to an anniversary weekend featuring artists and collaborators. The museum will be open continuously with free admission.

Artist talks and guided tours of the exhibitions, a vinyl listening night featuring records from the museum’s collection, night-time performances by Lina Lapelytė’s performers in the historic hall, and a night-time film programme featuring films by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Anne Imhof and Wim Wenders will offer visitors a fresh perspective on the Hamburger Bahnhof to mark its 30th anniversary.

The ‘Infinite Tour’, a 30-hour guided tour, leads visitors continuously through the building and its exhibitions. The open studio in the Rieckhallen offers a variety of activities round the clock for builders, active types, lazybones, dreamers, night owls and early risers. In the Education Lounge, there are tents for camping and playing, which serve as a quiet room for sleeping in the museum at night.

On Sunday morning, a pyjama tour invites visitors to explore the museum in their pyjamas.

The anniversary weekend is also a huge thank you to the artists featured in the collection and exhibitions to date, and to the Hamburg Bahnhof’s visitors. Music, performances, films and guided tours span the period from 1996 to the present day, exploring the exhibitions and the museum’s history.

During the anniversary weekend, visitors can explore the current special exhibitions – Sophie Calle (13 November 2026 to 2 May 2027), Next Door. Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Henrik Håkansson, Tomás Saraceno (until 27 June 2027), Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time (until 20 June 2027), [ materialistin ]. Matter of Care, Care of Matter (until 14 March 2027), Shilpa Gupta (until 3 January 2027) and Lina Lapelytė (until 10 January 2027), as well as the collection exhibitions Joseph Beuys. Works from the National Gallery and A Thousand Times Berlin, free of charge.

PROGRAMME

The museum will be open continuously for all exhibitions from Saturday 14 November 2026 at 11.00 am until Sunday 15 November 2026 at 6.00 pm. Admission is free.

Saturday 14 November 2026

Endless Guided Tour: The 30-hour tour runs continuously from 11.00 am through the Hamburger Bahnhof and its exhibitions.

Rieckhallen Studio: The open studio is open for 30 hours – for those on the go, for the lazy, for dreamers, for night owls, for early risers, for the meticulous, for… In the Education Lounge in H4, there are small tents that can be used for camping and playing. Make yourselves at home in the museum!

11 am – 6 pm

Really? Tell us!: What stories do you know about the Hamburger Bahnhof? From oral traditions, anecdotes big and small

to gossip and nonsense: we’ll listen, collect and find a space for them in the museum; Location: Historic West Passage

12 noon

Opening of ‘30 Years – 30 Hours’ with the Konzerthaus Brass Berlin – musicians from the Konzerthausorchester Berlin

2 pm

Curator’s Tour: through the exhibition ‘Sophie Calle. Is It Better?’ with Lisa Hörstmann, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof (DE)

4 pm

Curator’s tour: through the exhibition ‘Sophie Calle. Is It Better?’ with Lisa Hörstmann, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof (EN)

5.00 pm

Curator’s Tour: through the exhibition ‘Next Door. Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Henrik Håkansson, Tomás Saraceno’ with Ulya Soley, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof (EN)

7.00 pm

Artist talk on Susan Phillips’ ‘East by West’ 2025 with Sven Beckstette, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof

9 pm – 2 am

Hamburger Bahnhof x Pastiche: Art of Vinyl Listening Night

Hamburger Bahnhof possesses an extensive collection of records by artists. Drawing on this collection, the Art of Vinyl Listening Night focuses on the shared experience of listening to records. For this event, Hamburger Bahnhof is collaborating with the hi-fi venue Pastiche in Neukölln. Following a set from the Hamburger Bahnhof’s collection, Billy Caso and afrodisiac from Pastiche will present the musical diversity of their venue and their approach to mindful listening in a two-hour programme. With Sven Beckstette and Charlotte Knaup, curators, Hamburger Bahnhof; venue: Forum Hamburger Bahnhof.

10 pm – 1 am

Lina Lapelytė’s performers dance through the night in the Historic Hall of the Hamburger Bahnhof.

Sunday, 15 November 2026

Endless Guided Tour: The 30-hour tour takes visitors non-stop through the Hamburger Bahnhof and its exhibitions.

Rieckhallen Studio: The open studio is open for 30 hours for those who like to move, for the lazy, for dreamers, for night owls, for early risers, for the meticulous, for… In the Education Lounge in H4, there are small tents that can be used for camping and playing. Make yourselves at home in the museum!

1 am – 5.30 am

‘Night at the Museum’ film programme featuring films by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Anne Imhof and Wim Wenders

1 am

Ryuichi Sakamoto: async at the Park Avenue Armory (2018); Director: Stephen Nomura Schible; Running time: 65 mins.

To mark Oscar-winner Ryuichi Sakamoto’s first solo exhibition in Europe, the concert film ‘async’ by Stephen Nomura Schible – filmed at the Park Avenue Armory in New York – will be screened as part of ‘30 Years – 30 Hours’.

2.15 am

Anne Imhof: Maria (2002); duration 10:33 mins; Work (2003); duration 21:32 mins; Misfits (2002); duration 15:51 mins; Zebra (2002); duration 19:03 mins

The video works feature archive footage from Anne Imhof’s early days as an artist, when she lived in a squatted house in Frankfurt alongside artists, actors and dancers.

3.30 am

Wings of Desire (1987); Director: Wim Wenders; Running time: 128 mins

In 2001, the Hamburger Bahnhof presented Wim Wenders’ solo exhibition ‘Images from the Surface of the Earth’. ‘30 Years – 30 Hours’ features one of his films that is inextricably linked to the city.

11 am – 6 pm

Really? Tell us!: What stories do you know about the Hamburger Bahnhof? From oral traditions, anecdotes big and small, to gossip and nonsense: we’ll listen, collect and find a space for them in the museum; Location: Historic West Passage;

9 am

Pyjama tour, all ages welcome: Out of bed and into the museum!

Make yourselves at home and join the guided tour in your pyjamas.

Don’t forget your slippers.

11 am

Artist talk on ‘Something In and On Something Else’ (2024) by Claudia Wieser with Catharina Gebbers, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof (DE)

12 noon

Artist talk on ‘The Right to be Lazy’ (2007/2009, ongoing) by John Knight with Alice Koegel, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof

2.00 pm

Curator’s tour of the exhibition “Next Door. Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Henrik Håkansson, Tomás Saraceno” with Ulya Soley, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof (EN)

4.00 pm

Artist talk on the light installation by Dan Flavin, which the artist created in 1996 for the opening of the Hamburger Bahnhof and conceived as an integral part of the building. With Andrea Sartorius, conservator, Hamburger Bahnhof.

4.30 pm

Curator’s tour of the exhibition “A Thousand Times Berlin” with Charlotte Knaup, curator, Hamburger Bahnhof

• Registration for the artist talks and guided tours is available on site at the information desk.