Körber Studio Young Directing

One of the most important festivals for emerging spoken theatre

Since 2005, Körber Studio Young Directing has brought together the best final productions from German-speaking directing schools in Hamburg. The venue is the Thalia Theater in Gaußstraße — the studio stage of the renowned Hamburg theatre in Ottensen — as well as the Theater Academy Hamburg at Wiesendamm 13. This firmly anchors the festival in Hamburg's theatre scene and makes it the most important forum for young directing in the German-speaking world.

13 student productions plus an international guest

In 2026, the festival will present 13 productions by directing students from German-speaking universities, as well as an international guest production from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Belgrade. The works will be presented to a professional jury and the audience; each performance will be followed by moderated discussion rounds with dramaturgy students.

Motto 2026: Dating Unsafe Times

The 2026 programme is under the slogan "Dating Unsafe Times". The opening will discuss "new artistic practices and forms of solidarity in times of intertwined crises". The festival thus addresses the current political atmosphere — war, climate crisis, erosion of democracy — and asks how young directors are responding.

Programme Structure

• 13 student productions from German-speaking universities
• One international guest production (Belgrade)
• Public jury discussions and awards ceremony
• Audience talks, moderated by dramaturgy students
• Two-day opening workshop with Christophe Meierhans, lynn t musiol, and Christian Tschirner

€10,000 production funding

The main prize is endowed with €10,000: production funding for the winner's next project. This makes Körber Studio Young Directing one of the most important springboards in German-speaking theatre — many directors working in state and city theatres today experienced their first major festival recognition here.

In the Altona district

Thalia in Gaußstraße is located in Hamburg-Ottensen (Altona district), and the Theater Academy is at Wiesendamm in Hamburg-Winterhude (Hamburg-Nord district). Both venues are easily accessible by S-Bahn and U-Bahn.