Friedrichstadt-Palast

Friedrichstadt-Palast is a revue theatre in the Mitte district of Berlin, and it ranks as the largest show palace in Europe. The building runs 80 metres wide and 110 metres long. It seats 1,895 people and provides wheelchair access. Its proscenium arch spans 24 metres, the widest in Europe. Behind that arch, the stage floor covers 2,854 square metres, the largest in the world. The roots reach back to a market hall near Schiffbauerdamm in the late 19th century. The present house opened in 1984, and the original building came down in 1985.

Productions regularly bring more than 100 performers onto the stage, mixing dance, music and stylised acrobatics. The resident ballet company, directed by Alexandra Georgieva, fields 60 dancers from 26 countries, blending jazz, modern and hip-hop. A show band of 16 musicians plays under Daniel Behrens. The Children and Youth Ensemble, part of the Palast since 1947, counts 250 Berlin children. The programme stretches from children's shows to festival galas, and the Berlin International Film Festival also uses the house. In the basement, the Quatsch Comedy Club hosts regular sets by German stand-up comedians.

The contemporary façade wraps a concrete structure that keeps some of the old interior's basic ideas. The reliefs on the south and north sides come from the sculptor Emilia N. Bayer. They honour a history that spans circus, theatre and vaudeville.