Ascension Weekend in Berlin

Ascension Day has been a public holiday throughout Germany for almost 90 years. As this day is celebrated 39 days after Easter Sunday, it always falls on a Thursday and is therefore ideal for a long weekend in May with a bridge day on Friday. This year's celebration is on 9 May. How about a trip to Berlin? 
Here you can find out what highlights Berlin has in store for you over the public holiday and the weekend.

Ascension Day in Berlin

The public holiday offers the perfect opportunity to explore Berlin. Whether it's a visit to a museum or a bike tour through Berlin's forests and lakes, Berlin has a lot to offer. Berlin's parks and gardens also invite you to take a trip into the countryside.

Here are our tips for your Ascension weekend in Berlin:

Discover Berlin's green side.Shift your sightseeing to the water on a boat tour.Enjoy Berliner Weisse in one of the cosy beer gardens.Stroll through Berlin's market halls and weekly markets.Visit the attractions in Berlin.

Tip: The Berlin WelcomeCard gives you free travel on buses and trains in Berlin and discounts at over 180 attractions.
 

Events & Concerts

• At the Orchestra of Change climate concert at Kraftwerk Mitte, musicians not only want to preserve unique musical art, but also a planet worth living on.
• The "Falling in Love" show at the Friedrichstadtpalast is set to delight audiences until the beginning of July.
• The ZigZag Jazz Club invites you to a show of international jazz highlights for the last time in spring 2024 on the evening of 9 May.
• On the same day, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti will perform an exquisite selection of highlights of European classical music at the Waldbühne.
• Experience surprising musical encounters over a distance of 6.5 kilometres combined with a beautiful walk at the Fließtal Wandel concert.
• In his programme "Adored, Persecuted, Forgotten", Robert Kreis takes the audience on a literary journey through the unique world of Jewish-German entertainment art.
• Let yourself be enchanted by magical sounds at the organ lesson on Ascension Day.
• We have also put together tips and recommendations for every day.
   

Celebrations and festivals

Celebrations and festivals are an integral part of the events calendar in Berlin, and this weekend is no exception:

• With innovative artists and over 80 acts, this year's biggest jazz festival will once again cross the boundaries of style. From 6 to 12 May, the XJazz Festival will present a contemporary understanding of jazz, including electronic music, singer/songwriters and neo-classical music. 
• In keeping with the asparagus season, the Primavera Spring Festival on Akazienstraße offers goods from garden centres, asparagus farmers from the surrounding area and a wide range of arts and crafts.
• For the last time this year, fairground classics and other rides open their doors and invite you to the Berlin Spring Festival on Berlin's central fairground.
• From 8 to 12 May, the Staakener Volks- und Kinderfest will once again take place this year in the garden city of Staaken. Numerous fairground attractions offer a variety of fun for the whole family!

Find out what else is going on in Berlin on Ascension Day in our weekend tips.

Museums

Use the long weekend over Ascension Day for a trip to the museum. Find your favourite among the top museums in Berlin. From the Museum Island Berlin to the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Hamburger Bahnhof, as well as unusual museums and children's museums, there is something for every taste in Berlin! Exciting exhibition concepts also offer variety.

• To mark the 250th birthday of the painter Caspar David Friedrich, the Alte Nationalgalerie is showing the exhibition "Infinite Landscapes" from 19 April to 4 August. The exhibition includes 60 paintings and 50 drawings from the period of the pioneer of modernism.
• Star Wars fans should pay a visit to the exhibition "The Fans Strike Back". From 28 April to 7 July, you can visit this extraordinary event in the Napoleon Complex.
• The exhibition "Blocked Victors - Divided Berlin", in which three contemporary history museums in Berlin are jointly organising an open-air exhibition at Tempelhof Airport, will run for the last time on Ascension weekend. 
• The exhibition "BANSKY- A Vandal turned Idol" also ends on 12 May, so it's worth a last visit to Berlin's Kleisteck to admire the original works and original prints by the world-famous street artist Bansky.

Tip: Discover Berlin as a large open-air museum and take a walk through the sculpture capital of Berlin.

Children and families

Berlin has plenty to offer families with children all year round - whether they have toddlers, schoolchildren or teenagers. Attractions, theatres, cafés, museums, events, guided tours - and of course also on this long Ascension Day weekend.

• Every year on Europe Day, many Berlin districts organise a wide range of activities to promote the European idea.
• Have a great time with your children at the wonderful fairytale and participatory theatre in the fairytale theatre in the Domäne Dahlem and in the Galli Theatre.
• Spend the day in Berlin's parks and gardens and enjoy a delicious picnic.

Tickets for an adventure day at the zoo incl. dinosaur exhibition

Castles and gardens

A veritable sea of flowers awaits you in the palace gardens in Berlin and the surrounding area. The perfect backdrop for a colourful family photo for Father's Day. Or how about a guided tour of the palace? Or use our sanssouci + day ticket, which connects most of the palaces and gardens, for your excursions to nearby Potsdam:

Day ticket sanssouci +