Philharmonie Berlin

Auditorium Berlin, Germany

The Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, located in the Kulturforum. The structure, which cost 17 million marks, was solemnly inaugurated on 15 October 1963 after four years of work with the performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony and was immediately considered one of the masterpieces not only by Scharoun but of the entire Modern Movement.

The Philharmonie is on Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, named for the orchestra's longest-serving principal conductor. The building forms part of the Kulturforum complex of cultural institutions close to Potsdamer Platz. The Philharmonie consists of two venues, the Grand Hall (Großer Saal) with 2,440 seats and the Chamber Music Hall (Kammermusiksaal) with 1,180 seats. Though conceived together, the smaller hall was opened in the 1980s, some twenty years after the main building.