A journey from Warsaw to Berlin will come with an unexpected cultural programme this autumn, as Pociąg do Kultury returns to selected PKP Intercity services linking Warsaw, Poznań and Berlin.
Across eight journeys in September and October, a specially arranged carriage will host concerts, discussions, literary events, workshops and exhibitions, giving passengers the opportunity to experience live culture while travelling between the three cities.
The 2026 edition begins in Warsaw on 24 September, when the first cultural train departs Warszawa Wschodnia at 14:49.
A cultural journey from Warsaw to Berlin
Pociąg do Kultury was launched in 2016 as a cultural project connecting Berlin and Wrocław. In 2025, the concept moved to the longer Berlin-Poznań-Warsaw route, bringing the Polish capital into its programme.
More than 130,000 passengers have taken part since the project began, alongside more than 1,000 artists, civil society representatives and political figures.
The idea is simple but distinctive: rather than treating the train merely as a way of getting between cities, the journey itself becomes the setting for cultural exchange.
The programme is multilingual, allowing Polish and German passengers to take part together. Artists and cultural organisations from Warsaw, Poznań and Berlin are all represented.
Music, history and contemporary Poland-Germany relations
The opening journey on 24 September will feature a varied programme reflecting the cultural connections between the three cities.
Warszawskie Combo Taneczne will take passengers back to the atmosphere of pre-war Warsaw through music, while Opera Poznańska will offer a behind-the-scenes look at its work.
Berlin-based jazz singer Emily Intsiful will perform music dedicated to Hildegard Knef, the influential German singer and actress.
There will also be opportunities to explore Polish-German history. Anna Krenz of the Pilecki Institute Berlin will present the stories of Polish women living in Berlin and their resistance to Nazi terror.
The programme will then turn to the present day, with Małgorzata Kopka-Piątek, head of the European programme at the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, discussing contemporary Polish-German relations and the latest findings from the Polish-German Barometer.
Marking 35 years of Warsaw-Berlin partnership
This year's programme comes at a significant point in the relationship between Poland and Germany.
2026 marks 35 years of the partnership between Warsaw and Berlin, as well as 35 years since the signing of the Polish-German Treaty on Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation.
It also marks the 20th anniversary of the Oder Partnership, which brings together regional and local authorities, institutions and organisations from both sides of the Polish-German border.
The anniversary theme is reflected in the project's title for this year's edition, “Bliżej niż myślisz”, or “Closer than you think”.
Dr Christian Johann, Director of the European Academy in Berlin, said:
Good neighbourliness is not something that is signed once and then simply exists. It is built step by step, and in the case of Pociąg do Kultury, kilometre by kilometre. It requires creativity and enthusiasm. And so you board the train in Warsaw, listen to music, start a conversation and get off in Berlin a little closer to one another.
Eight special journeys this autumn
The cultural programme will take place aboard eight selected PKP Intercity services.
On EC 42 from Warsaw to Berlin, events are scheduled for:
24 September
26 September
7 October
9 October
On EC 45 from Berlin to Warsaw, the programme will run on:
25 September
27 September
8 October
10 October
The first journey leaves Warszawa Wschodnia at 14:49 on 24 September, with a scheduled stop at Poznań at 17:31.
Events will take place inside the specially arranged carriage and are available to passengers travelling on the relevant services.
Warsaw at the heart of a cross-border cultural route
The project brings together institutions and artists from three cities that are increasingly connected by rail, business, tourism, education and cultural exchange.
The project's curators are its founders and organisers, Ewa Stróżczyńska-Wille, Natalie Wasserman and Oliver Spatz.
The project offers an unusual addition to a familiar international journey. Instead of simply watching the landscape pass between Warszawa Wschodnia and Berlin, travellers can encounter music, performance, history and conversation along the way.
See more: Tilda Swinton – Ongoing Brings Four Decades of Creative Collaborations to Warsaw
Source: poznan.pl
Image credit: Radek Kołakowski
