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Dresden - City of Culture

Dresden is known for its rich and varied cultural offerings. This makes our science location even more inviting and worth living in. Here you will find an overview of (major) events in Dresden and special exhibitions by our partners.

Combine science with culture in Dresden.

Events and Special Exhibitions in Dresden

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100th anniversary of the Dresden Semper Opera Ball

February 7, 2025

One of the largest and most beautiful opera balls in Europe celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with 2,000 visitors and guests in front of the opera house.

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4th Elbe Venetian Carnival Dresden

February 28 to March 2, 2025

In the tradition of the carnival, Dresden’s centuries-old connection with Venice is reflected in the form of dance and culture.

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100 years of the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden - Anniversary Gala

March 29, 2025

The anniversary will be celebrated as a tribute to the founder and as an inspiration for future generations with a varied program.

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32nd Dresden Days of Contemporary Music (HELLERAU)

March 28 to 32. Dresdener Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik (HELLERAU32nd Dresden Days of Contemporary Music (HELLERAU)April 18, 2025

The festival is an internationally significant platform for developments in new music, for exciting experiments and surprising interdisciplinary constellations.

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Night of the Libraries

April 4, 2025

On April 4, 2025, selected Dresden libraries will open their doors until 10 pm. A varied program awaits all participants with bookslams, flashlight readings, escape rooms and other hands-on activities.

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Long Night of the Dresden Theaters

April 26, 2025

More than 20 theaters show 30-minute samples from their repertoire every hour on the Long Night of Dresden Theaters. The performances start on the hour, so you have 30 minutes to get to the next theater. So you can get to know as many theaters in Dresden as you like in one evening and enjoy an exciting night of theater.

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Wolfgang Tillmans. Weltraum

March 8 to June 29, 2025 at the Albertinum of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

With the exhibition Wolfgang Tillmans. Weltraum the Albertinum presents a cross-section of the artist’s diverse oeuvre, expanded by new works that have been created since 2022 and are being shown in an institution for the first time.

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Out of the Box - (M)ein Platz für Naturkunde

June 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 in the Japanese PalaceThe display and research collections of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections comprise more than 7 million objects. Each object tells its own story. The collections are unique archives of nature and form the basis for numerous research projects on the history of the earth and biodiversity.

The display and research collections of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections comprise more than 7 million objects. Each object tells its own story. The collections are unique archives of nature and form the basis for numerous research projects on the history of the earth and biodiversity.

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Interactive exhibition on the Physics of Life

March 18 to May 8, 2025 at the COSMO Science Forum

The interactive exhibition “What is life?” at the COSMO Science Forum invites you to take a look at biology and life from an unusual perspective. Interactive experiments, science comics and a video look inside a cell show how the interplay of molecules, cells and tissues shapes an organism. Find out what role chance and genetic information play in this process and how physical forces give shape to an embryo.

The exhibition is organized by the Cluster of Excellence “Physics of Life” at the TU Dresden.

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OSTRALE Biennale O25

June 7 to October 5, 2025

The OSTRALE is an international exhibition of contemporary art that deals with current social issues. The 15th OSTRALE Biennale is dedicated to the theme “Dialogue Color”.

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Long Night of the Science

June 20, 2025

During the Dresden Long Night of Science, Dresden’s universities, non-university research institutions and science-related companies open their doors to the general public with lectures, experiments, guided tours, exhibitions and films.

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Exhibition “RETHINKING PHYSICS. 100 years of quantum mechanics: Time for a female perspective!”

March 8 to May 18, 2025 at the Technische Sammlungen Dresden

To mark the United Nations International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter at the Universities of Würzburg and Dresden is presenting the traveling exhibition RETHINKING PHYSICS. It shows portraits of established and budding female researchers who talk about their enthusiasm and fascination for scientific work, their successes and goals. This is where curiosity meets the revolutionary power of quantum physics.

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Special exhibition “The air we shair”

November 9, 2024 to August 10, 2025 at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum Dresden

Air is omnipresent and yet elusive. It is always in motion and connects living beings – across ecosystems and geological eras. We humans also live in and through the air: we breathe it in and out around 20,000 times a day. And yet we behave as if we are not dependent on it. Through our actions, we change the air and thus increasingly also our living conditions.

The exhibition takes these changes as an opportunity to examine not only the physical properties of air but also its social impact – both locally and globally. Follow the movements of air through different ecosystems and geological eras and across national borders.

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Special exhibition “The closed garden. Access to the monastery library of the Cistercian nuns of St. Marienthal”

January 29 to May 17, 2025 at the SLUB Book Museum

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Photo exhibitions ECHOES OF TRUTH

June 27 to October 19, 2025 at the Technische Sammlungen Dresden - Hellerau Photography Award 2025

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World Transplant Games

August 17 to 24. 2025

Dresden will host the World Transplant Games, where athletes from over 60 countries will compete in 17 sports to set an example for organ donation and transplantation.

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Cultural Institutions within the DRESDEN-concept alliance
with permanent exhibitions

Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden - The Museum of Man

With its multifaceted program, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden is a public forum for the dialog between science and society, art and culture. The popular permanent exhibition “The Human Adventure” and the temporary, interdisciplinary special exhibitions are rounded off by readings and concerts, lectures and discussions, conferences and external events of all kinds.

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HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts

HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts acts as an interdisciplinary and international center for dance, performance, music, theatre, media art and visual arts. The residency apartments are as unique as opportunities for artistic research, production and encounters. HELLERAU deals in various focal points and festival formats with current social issues of our time.

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Archaeological Heritage Office in Saxony (LfA)

The LfA is the expert authority for the preservation of archaeological monuments in Saxony. Its core tasks include documenting, presenting and protecting archaeological monuments and artefacts. The State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz – smac – is the only museum of regional history in Saxony that presents 300,000 years of human cultural development in the region.

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Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library (SLUB)

The SLUB is one of the largest and most comprehensive academic libraries in Germany. Founded in 1556, it preserves important cultural and academic heritage and is now a nationally effective innovation and service center for digital information infrastructures. With a variety of events and exhibitions, the SLUB establishes itself as a third place and stimulates exchange on current socio-political, scientific and collection-related topics.

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Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

The Dresden State Art Collections are among the world’s most renowned museums. Fourteen museums offer a thematic variety that is unique in its kind. To this day, the collections are committed to preserving traditions, developing visions and helping to shape the future.

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Technische Sammlungen Dresden

The Technische Sammlungen Dresden is all in one: museum, science center and photo gallery. With permanent exhibitions on the technological and cultural history of photography and on the history of the information society, the Adventureland Mathematics, as well as temporary exhibitions on current technology research and a large variety of educational and dialog activities, the Technische Sammlungen Dresden promotes active engagement with the technological foundations of the present.

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