The construction of the Kammermusiksaal (chamber music hall) in 1987 completed Hans Scharoun’s concept for the ‘Kulturforum’ almost thirty years after construction had started on the Philharmonie in 1960. The Kammermusksaal was completed just as the Berlin Wall was about to topple; Scharoun’s Kulturforum was simultaneously seen (by different people) as a symbol of Western cultural and artistic sophistication and a future cultural center for a united Berlin. The Kulturforum also includes the Staatsbibliothek and the Neue Nationalgalerie.

The design of the Kammermusiksaal was influenced significantly—both in its design and in removing red tape and financial hurdles of completing the project—by Edgar Wisniewski, a pupil of Scharoun. The basic concepts of the building, nonetheless, are clearly related to its next-door neighbor, the Philharmonie. The building is designed from the inside-out, with blocks of seating accommodating the audience in a 360 degree rake around the central stage. If the central stage arrangement was an experiment in the Philharmonie, it was taken for granted—and taken further—in the Kammermusiksaal; seats are configured to allow moving ensembles and experimental music, in which performers are placed in multiple locations.

Jay Berman 1999

How to visit

The Kammermusiksaal is south of the Tiergarten and west of Potsdamer Platz. It is next door to the Philharmonie.

Ubahn/Sbahn: S1, S2, U2

Station: Potsdamer Platz

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