Berlin To Boost Conference Capacity at Its Two Largest Venues
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Florian Wehde
Skift Take
The German capital’s conference market is bursting at the seams. Estrel Berlin’s latest expansion signals how competition with Messe Berlin is shaping the city’s next decade.
Berlin attracted almost 13 million meeting and event participants in 2024, a 29 percent increase from the prior year. A study commissioned by visitBerlin and Messe Berlin highlighted the need for more venues with capacity for 1,000 to 5,000 attendees.
Cvent’s 2025 Top Meeting Destinations list for Europe offered a different perspective, with Berlin dropping three places from the previous year.
The city’s largest venues are betting on growth with significant expansion plans.
In July, Messe Berlin revealed plans to convert one of its existing convention halls into a multifunctional conference center. The 130,000-square-foot (12,000-square-meter) space will hold up to 5,000 attendees. A completion date has not yet been determined.
On Thursday, Estrel Berlin, Europe's largest hotel and convention complex, announced plans for a new multipurpose hall for 10,000 attendees. The new facility will increase the complex's total event capacity to 25,000 attendees.
Designed by Berlin-based Barkow Leibinger, the new hall will open in 2028 or 2029, pending building permits next year. It will feature rooftop solar panels and green roofing, complementing the Estrel Tower’s LEED Platinum ambitions.
This new hall come after the opening of the 45-story Estrel Tower, which will add 522 rooms and 40,000 square feet of meeting space, planned for Summer 2026. Once both projects are complete, the complex will feature over 538,200 square feet (50,000 square meters) of event space and 1,700 guest rooms.
Estrel Berlin got a connectivity upgrade in August with a new stretch of the A100 highway. It cut travel time to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to 15 minutes.
