Neuköllner Oper

The Neuköllner Oper is an independent music theatre in Berlin-Neukölln, described on its own site as the smallest opera house in Berlin's most vibrant district. Founded in 1977 by composer and church musician Winfried Radeke, it has been based at the Karl-Marx-Straße with a historic ballroom, a studio stage and two axolotls since 1988. Its programme combines pop culture and experimentation in the tradition of the Volksoper, and it works internationally while remaining rooted in its neighbourhood.

The Neuköllner Oper was founded in 1977 by the composer and church musician Winfried Radeke. Until 1981 Radeke rehearsed and performed with his free music theatre group in various churches, and from 1981 in a factory loft and alternately on various theatre stages. In 1988 the Neuköllner Oper gained its own theatre with the ballroom of the Passage Neukölln, with 200 seats in the hall and up to 50 in the studio. In 1996 Winfried Radeke brought the director and author Peter Lund into the artistic direction; with works such as Babytalk, Elternabend, Das Wunder von Neukölln and Stella, Lund made the house internationally known as a trendsetter in the field of the new German musical. In 2004 Bernhard Glocksin, a dramaturge and author, succeeded Winfried Radeke and Peter Lund, advocating an opening to further styles of performance, a radical questioning of the opera repertoire, collaboration with free ensembles such as the STEGREIForchester, the VKKO and the Trickster Orchestra, and an international orientation of the house. With the start of the 2025/26 season, Rainer Simon took over the artistic direction, linking programmatically above all to the sensual, accessible and low-threshold tradition of the Neuköllner Oper by focusing on contemporary pop culture and its various forms, while seeking to intensify artistic exchange with the various communities in the North Neukölln neighbourhood. Rainer Simon leads the Neuköllner Oper together with Andreas Altenhof and Marta Hewelt.

Independent music theatre in the free scene, combining pop culture and experimentation in the tradition of the Volksoper, with an international outlook and strong neighbourhood roots.

• VOX HUMANA

  A production with performances listed for September 2026.

• PÖBELARIEN

  A production with a performance listed for 26 September 2026.

• STUDIO 55

  An event on 11, 12 and 13 September 2026.

1. 1Neuköllner Operneukoellneroper.de
2. 2Über uns – Neuköllner Operneukoellneroper.de
3. 3Geschichte – Neuköllner Operneukoellneroper.de
4. 4Team – Neuköllner Operneukoellneroper.de
5. 5Neuköllner Operwikidata.org