Arriving by air
The airports serving Berlin and its region:
- Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER
Connections, terminals and transfer arrangements change — confirm them with the airline and the organiser rather than planning around a fixed transfer time.
All events & mapMarathonGENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON
Sport · Event guide
How to plan for GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON
The 2027 race is scheduled for September 26. Its lottery is open through November 12, 2026, with results due December 3; the currently displayed course map is still for 2026.
- LocationBerlin, Germany
- Edition timingSunday, September 26, 2027 · published
- AccessLottery open through Nov 12, 2026
01 · Event details
Edition and venue
Timing: Sunday, September 26, 2027 · published
Venue or host area: Central Berlin, with the race-day information identifying the Straße des 17. Juni / Brandenburg Gate area. The current course map is explicitly the 2026 edition.
Access: The organiser lists a lottery window of October 1–November 12, 2026, with results on December 3. Charity and official tour options are distinct; confirm their terms directly.
02 · Plan the visit
Plan around the official access route
The organiser lists lottery applications from October 1 through November 12, 2026, with results on December 3. If selected, the registration includes a four-day public-transport pass for zones A, B and C, valid September 23–26, 2027; check the organiser's current conditions and carry the required bib. Charity and tour-operator entries are separate routes. The course page says its map will be updated for 2027, so do not plan from the current 2026 map.
- Confirm the edition: use the organiser’s latest date and venue announcement, not only a customary month.
- Confirm admission: check whether access is by purchase, ballot, qualification, application or free/public entry; do not assume a ticket includes every venue or session.
- Confirm local logistics: check current transport, accessibility, road closures and arrival instructions with the organiser and relevant local authority.
- Protect flexibility: compare cancellation terms before booking travel around a date or route that is not fully confirmed.
03 · Location
Getting to Berlin
Germany's capital is a low-rise city of former halves, with Potsdamer Platz sitting on the old boundary and U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines crossing everywhere.
The venue
Central Berlin, with the race-day information identifying the Straße des 17. Juni / Brandenburg Gate area. The current course map is explicitly the 2026 edition.
The catalogue marker shows Berlin, Germany at city or region level only — it is not an entrance, a gate, a course or a transfer route. For the event’s position among its category peers, open the Marathon overview and map.
04 · Overview
What this event is
A looped marathon through Berlin that starts and finishes on Straße des 17. Juni beside the Brandenburg Gate, running through Charlottenburg, Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Mitte. The course is flat, wide and fast — the reason it is treated as a time-trial course — and the field is around 45,000, with the final kilometre running through the gate itself.
Why it matters
Berlin is where marathon world records are set: its flat profile, cool late-September weather and long straight sections have produced more world records than any other race, including the current men's mark and, in 2023, a women's world record. For a runner chasing a personal best, it is the major that offers the best conditions, which is why the lottery is heavily oversubscribed by club runners rather than charity entrants.
History
The race began in 1974 in what was then West Berlin, with a few hundred runners on a course confined to the western half of the city. After reunification the route was redrawn through the centre and the finish moved to the Brandenburg Gate, which has framed every edition since the 1990s. Berlin joined the World Marathon Majors in 2006, and its record history runs from Christa Vahlensieck in the 1970s through Haile Gebrselassie's 2:03:59 in 2008 to Eliud Kipchoge's 2:01:39 in 2018.
| First held | 1974 in West Berlin |
|---|---|
| Series | Abbott World Marathon Majors since 2006 |
| Entry | Lottery, fast-runner and charity places |
| Course | Flat loop, start and finish at the Brandenburg Gate |
| Timing | Late September |
05 · Research & credits
Sources and photo credit
Evidence and event information reviewed 2026-10-31. Published edition facts are separated from typical timing and historical context.
What we could not verify
- The 2027 course map has not replaced the 2026 map on the reviewed course page.
- The transport pass applies under organiser conditions; confirm its validity and any participant-only restrictions before relying on it.
- GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON — 2027 lottery application and results dates
- GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON — 2027 participant race-day information and transport pass
- GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON course page — interactive map currently shows 2026; 2027 update pending
- GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON — charity entry options
Photo credit
- GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON — Lear 21 · 1000 - Ziel Berlin Marathon.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · archival year 2022 · CSS-cropped to 16:10 cards and a 4:3 guide image
No affiliate links. This guide is for travel planning, not a guarantee of entry or event conditions.
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