© dpa
Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
April 24 to 26, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
Date details
- Date Saturday, 16/May/2026 20:00 (1 more date)
- Venue Haus der Berliner Festspiele - Große Bühne
- Address Schaperstraße 24, 10719 Berlin-Wilmersdorf
Public transportation
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Underground
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U Spichernstr.
- U9
- U3
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U Uhlandstr.
- U1
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U Kurfürstendamm
- U9
- U1
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U Augsburger Str.
- U3
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U Hohenzollernplatz
- U3
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U Güntzelstr.
- U9
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U Spichernstr.
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Bus
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Friedrich-Hollaender-Platz
- 204
- N3
- N9
- N7X
- 109
- 110
- 249
- M19
- M29
- N10
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Lietzenburger Str./Uhlandstr.
- 109
- 110
- 249
- M19
- M29
- N10
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U Spichernstr.
- 204
- N3
- N9
- N7X
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Pariser Str.
- 249
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U Uhlandstr.
- 109
- 110
- M19
- M29
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U Kurfürstendamm
- 109
- 110
- 204
- 249
- M19
- M29
- N3
- N9
- N10
- N7X
- X10
- M46
- N1
- N2
- N26
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Berlin, Bleibtreustr.
- 109
- 110
- M19
- M29
- N10
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U Hohenzollernplatz
- N3
- 249
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U Güntzelstr.
- N9
- N7X
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Bamberger Str.
- 204
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Theater des Westens
- M49
- X34
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Uhlandstr./Kantstr.
- M49
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Friedrich-Hollaender-Platz
Part of:
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
Theatertreffen 2026 | 10 remarkable productions
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick – Männer und Frauen mit Instrumenten stehen vor einer Art Kasperletheater mit einer uniformierten Figur mit Pappmachékopf
© Bernd Schönberger
A German fairy tale by Carl Zuckmayer
Staatstheater Cottbus
Premiere: 20.9.2025
An existential game of illusion and reality lies at the core of this highly contemporary interpretation of Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, which Sebastian Hartmann and his enthusiastic ensemble bring to the proscenium stage in expressive and boldly exaggerated style.
Fresh out of prison, Wilhelm Voigt is not allowed to work because he has no papers. But to get those papers, he needs a job. When all his efforts to outwit the bureaucracy fail, his only remaining hope is to try to defeat the system with its own tricks. He puts on a disguise, comes back on stage and suddenly he is acting along. But in which play? Or is this real life? Together with his ensemble, Sebastian Hartmann is well known for seeking fundamentally new approaches to existing material and enabling points of contact with the here and now. As a consequence, his Hauptmann von Köpenick plays not only with the play’s original script, but also with the audience’s expectations – because this highly energetic, powerfully visual Punch and Judy theatre packed with ideas drags dependent relationships and the brutality of human existence into the glaring spotlight.
Jury Statement
“What can be done with a 95-year-old ‘German fairy tale’ in which a cunning cobbler marches into Köpenick town hall wearing a junk shop uniform? And which seems to have been considered a superior TV comedy ever since the 1956 film version with Heinz Rühmann, though people are fond of forgetting that its underlying subject – the soldier inside everyone – is not remotely funny? Sebastian Hartmann and his splendid ensemble have a brilliant idea: they conceal neither the depths nor the comic aspects of the material – albeit without reproducing the comedy in its stricter sense. Hartmann has copied the facade of Cottbus’s theatre on stage. This bears an inscription ‘Der deutschen Kunst’ – to German art – and what happens now is a marionette theatre of (not only) German mental history in which a gifted theatrical team with a talent for (self-)irony probe Carl Zuckmayer’s play for its contemporary relevance. On the surface it looks as if the crew had casually enriched a backstage comedy with discursive material. But in fact, it gets deep down inside the nature and presence of the soldier – including in the theatre.”
– Christine Wahl for the Theatertreffen-jury
To the video statement (in German)
Artistic Team
Sebastian Hartmann – Direction and Stage Design
Adriana Braga Peretzki – Costume Design
Lothar Baumgarte – Lighting Design
Leonie Hahn – Dramaturgy
Cast
Torben Appel, Gunnar Golkowski, Benjamin Kühni, Charlotte Müller, Ariadne Pabst, Markus Paul, Charlie Schülke, Lucie Luise Thiede
Staatstheater Cottbus
Premiere: 20.9.2025
An existential game of illusion and reality lies at the core of this highly contemporary interpretation of Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, which Sebastian Hartmann and his enthusiastic ensemble bring to the proscenium stage in expressive and boldly exaggerated style.
Fresh out of prison, Wilhelm Voigt is not allowed to work because he has no papers. But to get those papers, he needs a job. When all his efforts to outwit the bureaucracy fail, his only remaining hope is to try to defeat the system with its own tricks. He puts on a disguise, comes back on stage and suddenly he is acting along. But in which play? Or is this real life? Together with his ensemble, Sebastian Hartmann is well known for seeking fundamentally new approaches to existing material and enabling points of contact with the here and now. As a consequence, his Hauptmann von Köpenick plays not only with the play’s original script, but also with the audience’s expectations – because this highly energetic, powerfully visual Punch and Judy theatre packed with ideas drags dependent relationships and the brutality of human existence into the glaring spotlight.
Jury Statement
“What can be done with a 95-year-old ‘German fairy tale’ in which a cunning cobbler marches into Köpenick town hall wearing a junk shop uniform? And which seems to have been considered a superior TV comedy ever since the 1956 film version with Heinz Rühmann, though people are fond of forgetting that its underlying subject – the soldier inside everyone – is not remotely funny? Sebastian Hartmann and his splendid ensemble have a brilliant idea: they conceal neither the depths nor the comic aspects of the material – albeit without reproducing the comedy in its stricter sense. Hartmann has copied the facade of Cottbus’s theatre on stage. This bears an inscription ‘Der deutschen Kunst’ – to German art – and what happens now is a marionette theatre of (not only) German mental history in which a gifted theatrical team with a talent for (self-)irony probe Carl Zuckmayer’s play for its contemporary relevance. On the surface it looks as if the crew had casually enriched a backstage comedy with discursive material. But in fact, it gets deep down inside the nature and presence of the soldier – including in the theatre.”
– Christine Wahl for the Theatertreffen-jury
To the video statement (in German)
Artistic Team
Sebastian Hartmann – Direction and Stage Design
Adriana Braga Peretzki – Costume Design
Lothar Baumgarte – Lighting Design
Leonie Hahn – Dramaturgy
Cast
Torben Appel, Gunnar Golkowski, Benjamin Kühni, Charlotte Müller, Ariadne Pabst, Markus Paul, Charlie Schülke, Lucie Luise Thiede
Performing rights: S. Fischer Verlag GmbH THEATER & MEDIEN
Audience Talk
on Sunday, 17.5.2026 after the performance
Audience Talk
on Sunday, 17.5.2026 after the performance
Alternative events
© Jörg Brüggemann
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- Next date:
- Kleiner Mann - was nun?
- Date:
- Saturday, 16/May/2026 18:00 (1 more date)
- Venue:
- Berliner Ensemble - Großes Haus
- Address:
- Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, 10117 Berlin-Mitte
- Price:
- from €12.31
© Quelle: Reservix-System
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- Date:
- Saturday, 16/May/2026 18:15
- Venue:
- Schaubude Berlin
- Address:
- Greifswalder Straße 81-84, 10405 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
- Price:
- from €25.00
© Quelle: Reservix-System
Frau Müller muss weg
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- Date:
- Saturday, 16/May/2026 19:00
- Venue:
- Varieté Grüne Bühne
- Address:
- Luckenwalder Straße 5, 12629 Berlin
- Price:
- from €20.45
© Tine Acke
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- Next date:
- Max Hopp
- Date:
- Saturday, 16/May/2026 19:30
- Venue:
- Renaissance-Theater Berlin
- Address:
- Knesebeckstraße 100, 10623 Berlin-Charlottenburg
- Price:
- from €42.89
©fergregory - stock.adobe.com
Die Räuber - Deutsches Theater Berlin
- Next date:
- Die Räuber
- Date:
- Saturday, 16/May/2026 19:30
- Venue:
- Deutsches Theater Berlin
- Address:
- Schumannstraße 13 A, 10117 Berlin-Mitte
- Price:
- from €10.55
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