SPAM – Spandau makes Old Music
Festival for Early Music in the Spandau Citadel of the Renaissance – 2026 as "SPAM light" under the motto "Berlin Chamber Music"
About SPAM
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A Festival in the Renaissance Fortress
The 16th-century Spandau Citadel is one of the best-preserved Renaissance fortresses in Europe. With its massive bastions, the Julius Tower, and the Palas, it offers an acoustically and atmospherically special backdrop for historical music. The SPAM festival deliberately uses these spaces: concerts in the Gothic Hall, in the Italian Courtyard complex, and in the nearby Nikolaikirche. The walls, the Renaissance architecture, the interplay of warmth and reverberation – all of this becomes part of the musical experience.
Artistic Direction with Profile
Heidi Gröger is among the leading German viol players and a member of numerous early music ensembles. Bernhard Schrammek is a musicologist, church musician, and one of Berlin's most distinguished voices for historically informed performance practice. Both curate the festival with the aim not only of programming repertoire classics but also of highlighting Berlin's early music specialties – works from the Bach era, from the court chapel of Frederick II, and from the circle around Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Reichardt.
World-Class Ensembles
SPAM brings ensembles such as Lautten Compagney, Capella de la Torre, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as well as international guests to the stage. The FAZ review after the premiere in 2023 spoke of a festival "on par with the major early music festivals in Europe." Despite its young age, SPAM has secured a permanent place in the Berlin classical music calendar.
2026: "SPAM light" with a Berlin Focus
The 2026 edition runs as a compact "SPAM light" format from February 26 to March 1, 2026. Theme: "Berlin Chamber Music." Program highlights: Opening concert with Marie Luise Werneburg (soprano) featuring works by Bach, Graun, and Janitsch; a Dowland evening to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of lutenist and composer John Dowland; Bach's "Musical Offering"; Caccini's "La Liberazione" with Capella de la Torre conducted by Katharina Bäuml. Accompanying talks and guided tours of the citadel.
SPAM — edition 2026
The 2026 edition foregoes the full two-week festival length of the first two editions and concentrates as "SPAM light" on an extended weekend with four intensive days of programming. The thematic anchor: the Berlin chamber music tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries. Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Heinrich Graun, and Johann Gottlieb Janitsch are featured alongside repertoire from the Renaissance (John Dowland on the 400th anniversary of his death, Giulio Caccini's Florentine opera "La Liberazione di Ruggiero").
The festival opens with a concert by soprano Marie Luise Werneburg, one of the most sought-after voices in historically informed performance practice in Germany. The dramatic highlight is "La Liberazione" by Capella de la Torre under Katharina Bäuml. Workshops on musical rhetoric and guided tours of the citadel complement the musical program.
Programme SPAM 2026
Thursday, February 26, 2026 – Opening
- Marie Luise Werneburg (Soprano) – Works by J.S. Bach, C.H. Graun, J.G. Janitsch
- Berlin Chamber Music of the Frederick Era
- Spandau Citadel, Gothic Hall
Friday, February 27, 2026 – Dowland Evening
- Program for the 400th anniversary of John Dowland's death
- Lute music and vocal works from Elizabethan England
Saturday, February 28, 2026 – Bach
- "The Musical Offering" by Johann Sebastian Bach
- BWV 1079 performed in its entirety
Sunday, March 1, 2026 – Climax
- Capella de la Torre conducted by Katharina Bäuml
- Giulio Caccini: "La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina" (1625)
- Early Baroque Florentine Opera
Accompanying Program
Talk concerts, guided tours of the Renaissance Citadel.
Highlights SPAM 2026
- Four days of early music in the Spandau Citadel of the Renaissance
- Motto "Berlin Chamber Music" – Works from Frederick's Court Chapel
- Marie Luise Werneburg, Capella de la Torre, Katharina Bäuml
- Dowland Commemoration Concert (400th death anniversary)
- Bach "Musical Offering" BWV 1079
- Early Baroque Florentine Opera by Caccini
Prices SPAM 2026
Practical information — SPAM
Getting There
U-Bahn U7 'Zitadelle', 5 minutes walk. By car: Am Juliusturm 64, 13599 Berlin-Haselhorst. Parking available at the entrance.
Tickets
Advance sales via Zitadelle Spandau (zitadelle-berlin.de), Berlin ticket agencies, and Eventim. Concert tickets approx. €25–€45, concessions €15–€25. Festival passes for multiple concerts available.
Organizer
Kulturhaus Spandau with artistic direction by Heidi Gröger and Bernhard Schrammek. Supported by, among others, the Spandau District Office and the Senate Department for Culture and Societal Cohesion.
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Travel to this festival
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Where it takes place SPAM
Zitadelle Spandau
Am Juliusturm 64, 13599 Berlin