The Grosse Halle Reitschule is one of the most striking cultural venues in Bern's Reitschule. The former riding hall now serves as a versatile event space for concerts, performances, festivals and cultural experiments. With its rough surface and generous floor space, it offers room for large productions and special encounters between art, politics, the public and urban culture.

The Grosse Halle is a regular venue for the auawirleben Festival, and we look forward to returning in 2026!

Here you can find the event taking place in the Great Hall.

How to get there

Schützenmattstrasse 7, 3012 Bern

The Grosse Halle Reitschule Bern is located in the centre of Bern and is easily accessible from Bern railway station. The square in front of the Reitschule (Schützenmatte) can get very crowded, especially on weekend evenings and at night. If you would like to be accompanied across the square, please feel free to contact us (077 484 71 37, kontakt@auawirleben.ch).

On foot
From Bern railway station: approx. 10 minutes
From the station square, follow Bollwerk street until it curves sharply to the right. On the left-hand side, you will see the Schützenmatte sports ground belonging to the Reitschule Bern. Cross this large square until you reach the front of the Grosse Halle. This is clearly visible on the right-hand side of the large building.

By public transport
From Bern railway station: approx. 10 minutes (including a short walk)
Take bus lines 11, 18, 20 or 21 from Bern railway station to the Bollwerk stop (one stop). From the bus stop, cross the large Schützenmatte square on the left-hand side until you reach the main hall. This is clearly visible on the right-hand side of the large building.

Timetable «Bern Bahnhof»: Bus 11 / Bus 20

Accessible buses and trams are marked with a wheelchair pictogram on the side. At bus stops, there is always a tactile and visually perceptible marking at the level of the front door of the vehicle. Detailed information on accessibility (including information pillars, text-to-speech functions, etc.) at Bernmobil, Bern's municipal transport company, can be found here.

Mit dem Fahrrad
From Bern railway station: approx. 5 minutes
From the station, follow Bollwerk street until it curves sharply to the right. You can either park your bike in front of the Bollwerk restaurant and then cross the large Schützenmatte square, or park it directly in front of the Grosse Halle, where there are also plenty of bike parking spaces. There are several PubliBike bike rental stations at Bern railway station. There is also a station near the Grosse Halle at Bollwerk.

Mit dem Auto
The nearest covered parking facility to the Great Hall is Metroparking at Waisenhausplatz 19. There are three parking spaces for people with reduced mobility and ten secure parking spaces for women. The car park is well lit 24/7. From there, it takes an average of seven minutes to walk to the Great Hall.

There are also individual parking spaces for people with mobility impairments at nearby Bollwerk and Hodlerstrasse 8 .