The main church of St Michael's, affectionately known in Hamburg as ‘Michel’, is worth a visit all year round. In the run-up to Christmas, this city landmark puts on a programme that is very popular with locals and tourists alike. First and foremost, of course, the classic: ‘The Christmas Oratorio’ by Johann Sebastian Bach on 21 and 22 December 2024. The renowned actress Iris Berben will be a guest on 7 and 8 December 2024 for the traditional ‘Texts and Songs for Advent’ series. The ‘Christmas concert to sing along to’ will take place on 19 December 2024.

Reality and fiction. Especially at Christmas time, these boundaries become blurred when children ask the question of all questions: Does Father Christmas really exist? From 6 December 2024, the Hamburger Kunsthalle will be exploring dreams and visions, concealment and disguise, and the joy of deception in the cross-genre and cross-epoch exhibition ‘Illusion. Dream - Identity - Reality’.

In December 2024, the tradition-steeped concert hall once again has a number of festive programme items in store: a ‘Festive Christmas Concert’ with actress Esther Schweins and the Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg will take place on 7 December. Bach's famous ‘Christmas Oratorio’ will be performed on 16 December by the Ensemble Resonanz - ‘in a different way’. The Prague Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra will perform its ‘Christmas Gala of Classical Music’ on 18 December.

Hamburg's club scene has one more location! The NICA Jazz Club opened in November 2024 in the heart of the city centre, next to the town hall on Alter Wall. With a view of the canal, lovers of top-class live music will get their money's worth here. On 1 December 2024, an intimate evening with two-time Grammy award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater is on the programme. On St Nicholas' Day, the folk-jazz quartet Leléka will perform a Ukrainian Christmas concert. There will be a Christmas concert by the internationally acclaimed vocal group New York Voices on 20 December and a day later a Christmas special by Torsten Goods, who is regarded as the German George Benson.

Wild, wicked and unforgettable! The Pulverfass Cabaret travesty theatre offers an explosive mixture of comedy, cabaret and sensual entertainment with ‘DIE PULVERFASS WEIHNACHTSSHOW - auf'm Weihnachtsmarkt nachts um halb eins’. The dazzling performances blur the boundaries between tradition and extravagance. The adventure, which captivates all the senses and leaves nothing to be desired, can be experienced from 1 November to 29 December 2024 at St. Pauli.

Hamburg's theatres have a lot to offer families during the Advent season. From fairytale classics to modern tales and musicals - there is something for everyone here. If you want to experience a tradition that many Hamburg families have cherished for generations, you should definitely plan a visit to the Hamburg State Opera in December. There, the Hamburg Ballet will be performing ‘The Nutcracker’ in a production by John Neumeier and the Hamburg State Opera will be staging Humperdinck's ‘Hansel and Gretel’, the oldest repertoire piece on the current programme of Germany's first civic opera.

It is an architectural masterpiece, a popular viewing platform and a concert hall that is unrivalled worldwide - the Elbphilharmonie. The landmark will once again bring Hollywood to Hamburg in 2024: on 18 December, French Oscar winner Marion Cottilard will appear in the speaking role of Joan of Arc in Honegger's ‘Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher’. To mark the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner's birth, his works will be a special focus of the 2024/25 season, with chief conductor Alan Gilbert conducting the Austrian composer's longest and most powerful symphony No. 8 on 5, 6 and 8 December. It's worth taking a look at the December programme!

Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist, scientist, engineer and inventor. At the Gaußhöfe in Altona, visitors can go on an immersive journey through the life of the Italian Renaissance polymath with ‘Leonardo Da Vinci - Uomo Universale’ until Christmas 2024 and independently set replica constructions in motion.

On 1 December 2024, ‘MJ - The Michael Jackson Musical’ will celebrate its German premiere in Hamburg. The story of the ‘Dangerous’ world tour from 1992 will be brought to life at the Stage Theater an der Elbe and some of the most famous and best-selling songs in music history will be presented. The King of Pop is embodied by Benét Monteiro. A firework display of the most famous pop songs is the hit musical ‘& JULIA’, which has been back in Hamburg at the Stage Operettenhaus on the Reeperbahn since autumn.