Sommernachtskino Tübingen 2026

A Tübingen Summer Classic Since 1992

Sommernachtskino Tübingen is one of the oldest and most popular open-air cinemas in Baden-Württemberg. Since 1992, the Tübingen Cinemas group has invited visitors every year from mid-July to mid-August to the courtyard of the Technical Town Hall at Brunnenstraße 3 — a green open-air stage in Ammerpark, right next to the university district. The venue seats around 400 people, with the rear rows covered against summer rain. A summer ritual for students, Tübingen families, and cinephiles from the entire region.

Date and Program 2026

From July 16 to August 15, 2026, the 35th edition of the series will take place — five weeks of programming featuring first-class niche films and crowd-pleasers. The film program changes daily; showing arthouse productions, international festival films, revivals of great classics, and selected mainstream successes of the season. The Tübingen Cinemas have curated the selection with care for years — anyone who knows Tübingen in the summer knows that between 9 PM and 11 PM, one of the most ambitious open-air programming schedules in southern Germany is shown here.

Artistic Accompanying Program

Unlike classic open-air cinema, Sommernachtskino Tübingen doesn't stop at the film. Before the screenings and on selected evenings, there is an artistic accompanying program of theater, cabaret, and live music — from local acts to regional guests. This combination of cinema and small-scale performance art is what gives the festival its charm and distinguishes it from the pure open-air cinema offered in many other cities.

The Technical Town Hall — A Tübingen Venue

The venue is the inner courtyard of the Technical Town Hall at Brunnenstraße 3, in Ammerpark, directly north of the city center. The location is a stroke of luck: the Ammer valley forms a natural acoustic space, old trees frame the screen, and the university district is just a few minutes away. With a venue capacity of around 400 seats, the series maintains an intimate character — not mass cinema, but an open-air film festival.

Tübingen Cinemas — The Organizer

The organizer is the Tübinger Kinos group, the collective of independent Tübingen cinemas (Atelier, Museum, Blaue Brücke, Arsenal). The group operates the Sommernachtskino as a summer outpost of their year-round program. This connection to the Tübingen indie cinema scene explains the high-quality film program: here, they show the films that Tübingen cinephiles also watch in their home cinemas in the four auditoriums during the winter.

Tübingen — University City on the Neckar

Tübingen, with its approximately 91,000 inhabitants, is one of Germany's oldest university cities (Eberhard Karls University, founded 1477). The old town with its half-timbered houses, the Stiftskirche, the Hölderlinturm on the Neckar, and the summer atmosphere of the punt boats (Stocherkähne) form the ideal setting for an open-air film festival. Visitors to Sommernachtskino can combine their evening with a walk along the Neckar or a punt boat experience.