Columbiahalle

From allied sports hall to concert venue

Opposite the runway of the former Tempelhof airport, a 1951 hangar designed for US troops' sports activities ended up becoming one of Berlin's most recognizable mid-sized venues. Following the closure that followed the US withdrawal in 1994, the building reopened in 1998 as Columbiahalle: a concert and event hall in Tempelhof, right on the border with Kreuzberg.

The public calls it C-Halle. The volume is large—up to 3,500 standing or 1,400 seated, over some 1,150 m² of dance floor plus gallery—but the scale remains club-like: the view of the stage is maintained from almost any point. A comprehensive renovation in 2014 consolidated that identity without turning the venue into an anonymous pavilion.

The gap between the basement and the arena

In a city of huge pavilions and tiny clubs, the Columbiahalle filled a void: it can host rock, pop, indie, and electronic tours without diluting the contact with the audience. Around 140 concerts a year take place here, in addition to boxing, dance, and private events. Touring bands use the hangar for soundchecks before festivals; the box's acoustics, with the upper balcony as a sound trap and a fixed delay line under the gallery, are considered exceptional for this size.

The current house system is L-Acoustics (L2/L2D, KS21 and KS28 subwoofers). The venue does not program as a resident nightclub: it rents the space to promoters, who set the lineup, schedule, and ticket sales.

Loveparade afters and dance floor memory

Electronic music is not the only language of the hall, but it is part of its street memory. Back in the Loveparade era, people were still dancing here when the parade ended. In 2026, Rave The Planet chose the hangar again for its first official afterparty, Imagine Love, with Dr. Motte, DJ Rush, Nakadia, and Teenage Mutants: root and peak-time techno under the same roof that hosts indie and rap.

Next to the hangar, the former allied cinema—today Columbia Theater, formerly Columbia Fritz and C-Club—completes an entertainment complex born in occupied Berlin.

A single hangar, garden, and C-Lounge

The venue is not a labyrinth of dance floors: it is a hangar with a gallery, five bars, C-Lounge with its own bar and balcony access, a garden with a barbecue, and two cloakrooms. Access is accessible (entrance through the courtyard, platform next to the stage). There is no fixed nightclub schedule: it opens according to the concert or party, with end times dictated by each promoter.