53rd International Music Festival Week Bad Berleburg

A Tradition Since 1973

The International Music Festival Week Bad Berleburg is one of the oldest and most renowned chamber music festivals in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1973, the Bad Berleburg Cultural Association has organized the series as a top-class chamber music showcase — surprisingly well-programmed for a town of only 19,000 inhabitants, in the heart of the Wittgenstein region, an hour's drive from the nearest major city.

The 2026 Program

The 53rd edition runs from Monday, July 6, to Sunday, July 12, 2026. Six outstanding evenings:

• Mon 6 July, 7:30 PM — Andreas Brantelid (Cello), opening concert
• Tue 7 July, 7:30 PM — Novo Trio with Rita Kuhlmann, “Romantic String Quartets”
• Thu 9 July, 7:30 PM — Matthias Kirschnereit (Piano), “Four Hands”
• Sat 11 July, 11:00 AM — Children's concert for families
• Sat 11 July, 7:30 PM — Goetz Alsmann, Jazz program
• Sun 12 July, 6:00 PM — Katja Riemann & Mirjam Knickriem: “Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen” (Heine)

The Highlights — From the Cellist to the Heine Evening

Andreas Brantelid is one of the most sought-after Scandinavian cellists of his generation; Matthias Kirschnereit brings his unmistakable lyrical style to the piano. Goetz Alsmann needs no introduction — the entertainer from Münster is a regular guest at the festival week and guarantees a sold-out hall. The finale features Katja Riemann with pianist Mirjam Knickriem: a literary-musical evening that reinterprets Heinrich Heine's epic poem “Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen” (A Winter's Tale of Germany).

Venues and Atmosphere

The concerts are spread across several venues in the town center: Schloss Berleburg with its magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the Bürgerhaus, and the concert hall of the Realschulzentrum. The festival is deliberately kept small and handcrafted — chamber music in a chamber music setting.

Wittgenstein — Where Classical Music Meets the Mountains

The Wittgenstein region is one of the most sparsely populated regions of Westphalia, nestled between the Sauerland and the Hessian border. Bad Berleburg is its cultural center. The princely house of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg resides here at Schloss Berleburg, and for decades the music festival week has been proof that international culture can flourish even in a small town — if only the volunteer commitment is there.