What if the economic miracle after World War II had not taken place in Germany, but in Turkey instead? What if German guest workers had helped to rebuild Turkey – and not the other way around? This exciting thought experiment forms the basis of the play.

In scenes in German and songs in Turkish, "Istanbul" tells a tragicomic story of the search for happiness, love, and home. The songs of Sezen Aksu, the founder and Grande Dame of Turkish pop, serve as inspiration for the play.

If there is one word that captures the sound of Parra for Cuva, it is "wanderlust". His music has become known primarily for its openness to the world - a magical terrain where Caribbean steel drums meet ancient instruments from Zimbabwe and melodic electronic soundscapes transport the spirit to faraway places. It is this sense of openness that the German electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist has cultivated from the beginning, and even as his skills become more refined and his sound more sophisticated, Parra for Cuva's music retains that dreamlike quality that is hard to resist.
Born in 1991, Nicolas Janco was fascinated by sounds at a young age. His first studio was in his childhood bedroom in Northeim, a small town in Germany, where two rudimentary speakers and a MIDI piano sat among his toys. He started his musical journey with classical piano, but his enthusiasm soon led him to forays into hip-hop, jazz, pop, and indie. And even as he discovered electronic music and shortly after moved to Berlin to study and start a career as a producer, his journey with different instruments and musical languages was just beginning. The variety of instruments in his studio - from bells to flutes to kalimbas and all kinds of percussion - shows how much of a sound explorer Nicolas is.
After singles that stormed the charts and two acclaimed albums, Majouré (2014) and Darwîś (2016), Parra for Cuva broke through with the release of Paspatou (2018). His fourth studio album Juno (2021), where he didn't shy away from blending experiments for the dance floor with acoustic and ethnic soundscapes, included collaborations with musicians from around the world. Parra for Cuva, compared to contemporaries such as Christian Löffler and Max Cooper, known for combining electronic productions with warm, often melancholic analog sounds, has been heard at prestigious festivals and sold-out stages worldwide, including Burning Man and Sziget. On April 19, his new album Mimose will be released, promising another captivating sonic journey with exciting collaborations.
After a sold-out concert at Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld in May 2024, we are now delighted to present Parra For Cuva to you again in Cologne on February 4. This time at Gloria.

Doors Open: 7:00 PM

2024-09-29_The Eternal Snob

2024-11-30_Mindfully Murdering

2025-02-15_Things I Know for Sure

2025-03-22_Rent a Friend

2025-04-26_Waiting for the Bus

Eight Classical Concerts

Tickets may still be available at local box offices or at the door.

Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

The Art and Natural History Chamber is considered the oldest German museum room. It was established by August Hermann Francke for educational purposes and is now once again set up according to the original museum concept of the 18th century in its historical location in the attic of the Historical Orphanage.

Eighteen richly decorated collection cabinets house approximately 3000 natural specimens, curiosities, and artifacts. They provide a unique impression of a Baroque cabinet of curiosities. Unlike modern museums, the chamber follows an encyclopedic collecting approach. A distinction is made between natural specimens and artifacts. The natural specimens are divided into rocks, plants, and animals, while the artifacts are categorized into visual arts, calligraphy, coins, everyday culture, and clothing. The goal was to create a mirror image of the world: a microcosm that made the macrocosm as the wonderful creation of God tangible.

In a series of events, art projects take place around the Art and Natural History Chamber. In the so-called "Contemporary Reflections on the Art and Natural History Chamber," foundations invite artists to engage in an artistic dialogue with the chamber.

Detailed information

Tue-Sun 10am-5pm

Palace-like, the orphanage rises on Franckeplatz. Then as now, it is the centerpiece of the Francke Foundations. Erected in 1698 as the first building of the school city, it represents a new facet of European Baroque, combining confident representation without extravagant ornamentation and setting the tone for orphanage architecture.

Today, the orphanage is our museum and cultural center. Right from the start, two permanent exhibitions guide you through the history of the foundation and the global impact of Pietism. On the first floor, the former prayer and singing hall surprises with its bright architecture. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a concert hall due to its fantastic acoustics. In the adjacent conference rooms, a photo exhibition showcases the impressive renovation work since the foundations were reestablished in 1991. The second floor is reserved for our changing special exhibitions, which provide insight into important themes of the foundation's history from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Passing through the art and natural history collections in the attic, you reach the balcony via a narrow wooden staircase. Here, a wide view opens up over the impressive ensemble with school buildings from three centuries. There is also a splendid panorama of the Old Town of Halle from here. In the basement, children can explore their own paths in the Krokoseum.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

What power does the word have? For Halleschen Pietismus, the word was of central importance. On the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage, we show you how August Hermann Francke's reform movement could spread around the world.

Francke developed central reformative goals of Martin Luther's with Halleschen Pietismus. His approach was as clear as it was revolutionary: Every person should find God through their own Bible reading. However, for this to happen, everyone - boys and girls alike - had to learn to read, everyone should be able to afford their own Bible and it should be printed in their own native language. Therefore, Francke established schools for all social classes, printed millions of German-language People's Bibles, and created an international network through which the Bible was translated into many other languages. His educational initiative allowed a broad population to engage with the word. In the 18th-century evangelical parsonages, the authors of the Romantic and Enlightenment periods were highly regarded. A culture of self-reflection spread in Pietism, which was reflected in diaries and personal testimonies, giving us remarkable insights into the spiritual life of people of that time. Symbolically, the power of the word is also evident in the meticulously restored pulpit from the Church of St. Ulrich in Halle, where Francke preached from 1715 and which you can admire in the exhibition.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

4 talers and 16 groschen are considered the founding capital of the Francke Foundations. How an unparalleled school city grew from this unexpected donation to a simple pastor in Glaucha can be discovered on the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage. A multimedia installation and numerous extraordinary objects will transport you into the fascinating founding and impact history of Francke's work. Because what began with a school for the poor and an orphanage, developed in a few decades into a true reform project that was based on education: Over 2,000 students learned in various schools, specially constructed economic buildings, a hospital, and a pharmacy guaranteed the care of over 3,000 people on the premises, unique cultural-historical collections in the library and chamber of wonders were established, and Francke's ideas were spread within and outside Europe. August Hermann Francke wanted nothing less than a "world change through personal change." Discover everything he set in motion through this.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Opening: Friday, 25.01., 7 PM

In last seen recently partly confrontational, partly poetic works are presented that try to hold on to something or retell the past. From photography and film to video game and performance to diverse spatial installations, the artists use these media to address questions of human memory culture and perception of reality. Who tells the past? How is memory manipulated? When does memory harm us? And how does one deal with the accompanying emotions?

Several artists embark on a quest for traces in their own childhood and family. They unveil universal patterns of power and relationship, such as love withdrawal and loneliness in contrast to tender community. Elsewhere, the inner child dies, the loss of which is entirely different from that of a real lover. This too finds its place in the exhibition. For example, when the digital continuation of a person complicates the farewell. A whole identity in the digital space – or packed into a suitcase.

The exhibition invites visitors into a tension field of intimacy and publicity. Monuments meet fragile minds. The monuments are meant to immortalize. Yet they are unstable.

All artists in alphabetical order:
Eva Bruno
Jonathan Flohr
Paula Freitag
Mael Glass
Max Grund
Yuxiao Huang
Hana Kawanishi
Josefine Kröll / saint josy
Pyunghwa Lee
Yijiang Liu
Hannah Meiers
Lisa Mukhina
Ruben Sabel
Leon Sahiti
Jamie Yzabel Santos
Benjamin Schlemmer
Caroline Schlingemann

Thu–Sun, 2–6 PM

Admission from 6:30 pm

The tour for the new album

at the piano: Rene Krömer

With his new concert program "Times To Love," the passionate entertainer Marc Marshall takes the audience into the boundless world of music. On stage, Marc Marshall is in his element and shares his passion for emotions with the audience.
Where his voice is heard, the hearts of people open. This voice touches, it tells stories.
In 2015, Harry Belafonte asked Marc Marshall if he would like to sing songs that Jake Holmes had specially written for Harry. This honor inspired Marshall to create the album "Times To Love." The art was to create something new from this momentum around the three songs intended for Belafonte, "Times To Love," "Silence Is The Language," and "We Make Love," with emotionally dynamic recordings. The songs were produced and arranged by Chris Walden, the arranger of the Oscars and 7-time Grammy nominee. For the recordings, Marshall traveled to the Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, and the Abbey Road Studio, London; accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Stylistically, the singer moves with impressive ease between genres. "Times to love" is a statement and a way of life at the same time. With astonishing relevance, this brilliant long player, circling the world of music with grandeur, establishes an unparalleled closeness to the audience.

Doors open: 18:30

We all access the internet daily through web browsers. The question of how browsers determine what we experience online has fascinated artists early on. Based on a research project by the KIT Institute for Art and Architectural History on browser art, the exhibition »Choose Your Filter!« provides insights into 30 years of browser development. Here, you can discover and try out browser visions through interactive installations. 

Wed to Fri from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Sat and Sun 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

The Komische Nacht (Funny Night) is one of the most successful live comedy formats in Germany. In the most beautiful cafés, bars, and restaurants of a city, guests along with their friends and family experience a lively evening at this unprecedented show - with the best entertainment provided by various comedians, cabaret artists, and other comedians. No Funny Night is like the other.

The unique comedy marathon, in the anniversary year 2023, has been successfully taking place for 15 years in over 40 German cities (including Bielefeld, Frankfurt, Hannover, Münster, Oldenburg, and Lüneburg).

In collaboration with several restaurateurs, the agency MITUNSKANNMAN.REDEN. presents various comedians and other fun-makers on one evening, who entertain their audience in a diverse and entertaining way throughout the evening. Known for their performances at Quatsch Comedy Club, Nightwash, and the Funny Night, the artists guarantee an enjoyable evening in a convivial atmosphere with food and drinks.

The Komische Nacht offers a remarkable cross-section of the current comedy scene in Germany. In each venue, up to 5 comedians perform for about 20 minutes each in one evening. The best part: at the Funny Night, visitors do not have to wander from place to place to see different comedians, instead, each guest buys a ticket for their favorite venue. It is the artists who move from club to club. For the entrance fee, you receive an evening-long and highly entertaining program in a cozy atmosphere.

Admission from approximately 6:00 pm

No tickets available here

The Merry Widow - Operetta by Franz Lehár - Johann-Strauss-Operetta-Wien

The Merry Widow is the most successful operetta by Franz Lehár. Famous titles like "Lippen schweigen," "Da geh‘ ich zu Maxim," and "Ja, das Studium der Weiber ist schwer" promise an entertaining evening. Singing soloists from Vienna, orchestra, choir, and ballet from the Johann-Strauss-Operetta-Wien present the exciting story with beautiful music in a classic production with magnificent costumes and a traditional stage design.

For family reasons, Count Danilo was not allowed to marry Hanna, a girl from the countryside. While he tries to forget his worries about this marriage prohibition with the grisettes, Hanna manages to marry the wealthy banker Glawari, who dies on their wedding night. As a rich widow, Hanna is very sought after by men. Danilo's love for Hanna reignites, but he is afraid to confess it to her - fearing that he would also be accused of only being interested in her money. But the situation becomes even more complicated. Hanna announces her engagement to Camille de Rosillon in order to protect Valencienne, who flirts with Camille and is almost caught by her husband. Only when this incident is resolved and Hanna pretends she cannot dispose of her inheritance, can Hanna and Danilo finally embrace.

Doors open: 19:00.

The 12 Tenors - 15 Years Celebration Tour
12 Voices – 12 captivating personalities sing, dance, and celebrate with their audience!
And Attention Ladies: They also look incredibly good! With world-famous classical arias, romantic ballads, as well as rock and pop anthems that made history, the 12 once again thrill their fans, making them rise from their seats. Their interpretations of global hits like Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and various tributes to the big stars of the international music scene, such as the Beatles, Queen, or Michael Jackson, once again display the broad spectrum and vocal power of these 12 exceptional singers! As extensive as their repertoire is, so too is the vocal diversity, skillfully highlighted in humorous moderations. And those who already know them, are aware: Some hip swinging has already become legendary. Soon, it will be time again to say: Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome live on stage: THE 12 TENORS!

Doors open: 7:30 pm

The Vitra Campus is a magnet for design and architecture enthusiasts. Rarely anywhere else in the world can you find as many icons of contemporary architecture as on the Vitra Campus. Experience the campus on a tour that includes buildings by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron, and SANAA, and learn more about the backgrounds of architects and buildings.

The architecture tour lasts two hours and takes place mostly outdoors while standing. Please be mindful of the weather and dress accordingly. We recommend bringing a water bottle, sunscreen, or rain protection depending on the situation.

Please note that the buildings and spaces presented in the tours are in use. Therefore, occasional restrictions during the visits may occur.

Secure your personal SEASON TICKET 2024/25 and experience all home games of the SKYLINERS live and up close in the Süwag Energie ARENA.

All advantages at a glance:

- Entrance to all home games in the main round 2024/25
- Significant price savings compared to single tickets
- Sell your seat through the new secondary market
- Entrance to all possible playoff home games*
- No surcharges for top games
- Transferability to other persons
- Exclusive events only for season ticket holders
- Exclusive raffles in the SKYLINERS Advent calendar
- Free entrance to the games of the SKYLINERS Juniors
- The season ticket includes all 16 home games of the SKYLINERS in easyCredit BBL in the 2024/25 season.

* Subsequent calculation of additionally played games.

All season tickets in credit card format will be delivered by mail at the beginning of September.

The Vitra Campus is a magnet for design and architecture enthusiasts. Few other places in the world can boast such a large number of contemporary architectural icons. Explore the Campus on a guided tour which features buildings by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA, and learn more about the architects and their works.

The architecture tour lasts two hours and takes place mostly in the open air, while standing. Please take note of the weather and dress accordingly. We recommend packing a water bottle, and sun or rain protection, depending on the situation.

Please also be aware that the buildings presented during the guided tours are in use. Occasional restrictions may occur during the tours.