Aquarium Berlin reopened on August 18, 2026 after a modernization that ran three years and cost about 10.3 million euros. The date was chosen: the building first opened on August 18, 1913, so it reopened on its 113th birthday.
It is one of the oldest aquariums still operating anywhere. The work touched all five floors, from the basement to the roof level, and ran from June 2023 to August 2026.
What the money bought
The building covers roughly 8,100 square meters in total, of which about 2,200 square meters are open to visitors. Zoo Berlin puts the total cost at around 10.3 million euros, with 2.7 million of that coming from GRW funding, the German federal and state program for regional economic development.
The work list is unglamorous and mostly structural: a new elevator, a modernized entrance and new sanitary facilities, refurbished aquariums and terrariums throughout, and nine new interactive media tables. Accessible information was improved alongside the physical accessibility.
The largest single job was the big circular tank. It holds more than 110,000 liters and its acrylic panels are 14 centimeters thick, with individual panes weighing up to two tons.
Three floors, three elements
The route through the building runs from water to land to air, which is the organizing idea behind a house that has never been only an aquarium. It holds fish and jellyfish, but also amphibians, reptiles and insects, and the new interpretation covers water cycles, marine protection and the deep sea.
Several species are new to the collection with the reopening, among them the inland taipan, the Burmese star tortoise and the Gaboon viper.
A listed building that had to stay itself
The tension in a project like this is between a monument and a modern zoo building, and Zoo and Tierpark director Dr. Andreas Knieriem framed the result in exactly those terms.
“Gemeinsam ist es uns gelungen, bei der behutsamen Modernisierung den einzigartigen Charakter dieses Denkmals zu bewahren.”
“Together we succeeded in preserving the unique character of this monument through a careful modernization.”
Dr. Andreas Knieriem, Zoo and Tierpark Berlin director, in a statement translated from German
Franziska Giffey, Berlin’s Senator for Economy, Energy and Operations, called the aquarium one of the city’s best known tourist attractions and said the renewed infrastructure, improved accessibility and modern educational offerings leave it well positioned for the future.
What was not stated
The announcement does not give a species count or an animal count for the reopened building, does not name the architects or contractors, and gives no visitor projections. It also does not break the 10.3 million euros down by work package.
Why it travels
American aquariums are mostly younger than this building and are starting to face the same question it just answered: what do you do with a mid-century or older facility whose tanks, plumbing and public spaces have all aged out at once, when the building itself is the institution’s identity?
The European answer has been to renovate in place rather than rebuild, and to accept that the result costs real money and takes years. Tiergarten Schonbrunn in Vienna restored and reopened its historic Engelstor on the same principle this year, and Koninklijke Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands rebuilt its seagrass aquarium rather than starting over.
Three years closed is a long time for a paying attraction in the middle of a capital city. Reopening on the building’s birthday reads like a company that wanted the date on the record.
Source: Zoo Berlin press release, August 18, 2026.
Quick answers
- When did Aquarium Berlin reopen?
August 18, 2026, which is the building's 113th birthday. It first opened on August 18, 1913 and is one of the oldest aquariums still operating anywhere.
- What did the modernization involve?
Three years of work from June 2023 to August 2026 across all five floors: a new elevator, a modernized entrance and sanitary facilities, refurbished aquariums and terrariums, nine interactive media tables, and a rebuilt circular tank.
- What did it cost?
About 10.3 million euros, of which 2.7 million came from GRW regional development funding. Zoo Berlin did not break the total down by work package.
- How big is the building?
Roughly 8,100 square meters in total, with about 2,200 square meters open to visitors. The large circular tank holds more than 110,000 liters behind acrylic panels 14 centimeters thick.
