Car Events in Germany 2026

Germany has the densest car event calendar in Europe. The Nurburgring alone could keep you busy from April through October, and beyond the Ring you have everything from a quarter-million-strong classic car show in Stuttgart to drag racing at Hockenheim and a concours on a Bavarian lake. Here are all 25 events for 2026, in chronological order.

Retro Classics Stuttgart | 18-22 February

Stuttgart kicks off the German car year with the country’s largest classic car show, and the numbers speak for themselves: 250,000 visitors spread across the Messe Stuttgart halls over five days. The breadth is what sets Retro Classics apart from more curated shows. You will find everything from unrestored barn finds to concours-quality pre-war machinery, alongside parts dealers, restoration specialists, and club stands representing every marque imaginable. If you are coming from outside Germany, this is the best single event to get a sense of how deep the country’s classic car culture runs.

The show has grown steadily since its early days as a regional affair, and it now draws international dealers and auction houses looking to tap into the German collector market. Allow at least a full day, ideally two.

Retro Classics Essen | 8-12 April

The spring sibling of the Stuttgart show, Retro Classics Essen fills the Messe Essen with a similar formula of classic and collector cars across all eras and price points. Essen has historically been the home of Techno Classica, which has since relocated to Dortmund, but the appetite for a spring classic car fair in the Ruhr region clearly remains strong.

If you are making a trip specifically for this, it pairs well with a weekend in Dusseldorf or Cologne, both under an hour away.

Drift Kings Nurburgring | 24 April

The Drift Kings International Series opens its 22nd season at the Nurburgring, and there is something reassuring about a drift series that has been running this long without losing its edge. The format puts some of the best professional drifters in Europe on a purpose-built course adjacent to the GP circuit, with qualifying and tandem battles compressed into a single high-energy day.

If you are already at the Ring for the Drift Cup weekend (which runs simultaneously), the DK opener adds a layer of international competition that raises the intensity considerably.

Nurburgring Drift Cup Round 1 | 24-26 April

Running alongside the Drift Kings opener, the first round of the Nurburgring Drift Cup takes place on the Mullenbachschleife section of the circuit. The Drift Cup tends to attract a broader mix of competitors than the DK series, from semi-professional drivers in built street cars to fully sponsored teams, and the Mullenbachschleife layout rewards commitment through its long sweeping entries.

The combined DK and Drift Cup weekend makes this one of the biggest drift gatherings in Germany, and the paddock atmosphere reflects that. Expect food trucks, music, and a crowd that actually understands what they are watching.

Tuning World Bodensee | 14-17 May

Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance hosts one of Europe’s largest tuning shows, with over 1,000 show cars and 109,000 visitors cramming into the Messe grounds each year. The emphasis here is on car culture in the broadest sense: stance builds, performance builds, audio installs, and everything in between. It leans more toward the show-and-shine end of the spectrum than the track-focused end, but the quality of the top builds is genuinely impressive.

The lakeside setting helps too. Friedrichshafen is a pleasant town with good food and easy access to the Bodensee ferry network, so you can make a proper weekend of it without the event itself being your only reason to be there.

24 Hours of Nurburgring | 14-17 May

This is the one. Over 150 cars race day and night on the full 25-kilometre Nordschleife, and the spectator experience is unlike anything else in professional motorsport. The paddock is open, camping spots are scattered through the Eifel forest along the circuit, and you can walk to spectator points that put you metres from GT3 cars, Cup cars, and everything down to modified production hatchbacks all sharing the same track.

The night phase is where the 24 Hours becomes truly special. Standing at Brunnchen or Pflanzgarten at 2am, watching headlights cut through fog in the forest, is one of those experiences that makes you wonder why every race weekend cannot be this good. The 2026 edition runs the same weekend as Tuning World Bodensee, so you will have to choose, but this should be the easier decision.

Arrive Thursday for scrutineering and qualifying. By Saturday evening the race is fully underway and the atmosphere builds through the night into Sunday morning.

Gran Turismo Nurburgring | 1-4 June

If you have access to the right car, Gran Turismo Nurburgring offers something almost impossible to find elsewhere: exclusive track time on the full 21-kilometre Nordschleife without public traffic or Touristenfahrten speed limits. The event is structured as a driving experience rather than a race, with curated groups of supercars and high-performance machines given extended sessions on the most demanding circuit in the world.

This is obviously not a spectator event. It is aimed squarely at owners who want to drive the Nordschleife properly, with professional instruction available and a format that prioritizes quality laps over quantity.

FIA Hill Climb Glasbachrennen | 13-14 June

The Glasbachrennen is a proper FIA hillclimb through dense forest in Thuringia, and it deserves far more attention outside the hillclimb community than it currently gets. The road from Steinbach-Hallenberg winds uphill through trees with minimal runoff, and the cars range from single-seaters to heavily modified touring cars, all driven with the kind of commitment that comes from knowing you only get a handful of timed runs.

Hillclimbs have a different rhythm to circuit racing. There is more downtime between runs, which means more time in the paddock talking to drivers and mechanics, and the atmosphere tends to be warmer and less corporate. If you have never been to a hillclimb, this is an excellent introduction.

DTM Lausitzring | 19-21 June

The DTM visits the Lausitzring in Klettwitz for a round of GT3 racing on a circuit that offers several different layout options and consistently good racing. The Lausitzring is a modern facility in Brandenburg, about 90 minutes south of Berlin, and while it lacks the historic cachet of some other DTM venues, the racing itself is usually close and unpredictable.

The GT3 format means you are watching factory-backed Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes, and Lamborghinis driven by a mix of experienced professionals and promising younger drivers. Support races fill the gaps between DTM sessions, so there is plenty of on-track action throughout the weekend.

DTM Norisring | 3-5 July

The Norisring round is the jewel of the DTM calendar. The circuit is laid out on public roads around the Dutzendteich park in Nuremberg, with concrete walls lining a layout that is closer to an oval than a road course. The combination of a temporary street circuit and GT3 cars produces some of the most aggressive door-to-door racing you will see all year, and the atmosphere in the grandstands reflects the tension on track.

Nuremberg itself is a great city to spend a weekend in, with the old town, the castle, and plenty of restaurants within walking distance of the circuit. This is one of those events where the city and the race complement each other perfectly.

Concours of Elegance Germany | 4-5 July

The Concours of Elegance brings its format to the shores of Lake Tegernsee for what promises to be one of the most scenic concours settings in Europe. Tegernsee is about an hour south of Munich in the Bavarian Alps, and the combination of rare collector cars, a lakeside lawn, and mountain views is hard to argue with.

Expect a carefully curated field of perhaps 50 to 60 of the world’s rarest and most significant automobiles, judged by a panel of fellow entrants rather than external judges. The Concours of Elegance events in the UK have built a strong reputation for quality over quantity, and the German edition should carry that same standard.

MotoGP German Grand Prix | 10-12 July

The Sachsenring is one of the most unusual circuits on the MotoGP calendar. Its left-turn-heavy layout, steep elevation changes, and narrow width create racing conditions that consistently produce surprises, and certain riders have historically dominated here in ways that defy their form at other tracks. Marc Marquez’s extraordinary winning streak at this venue is the most famous example, and the circuit’s quirks continue to shuffle the competitive order.

The facility is located near Chemnitz in Saxony, and the surrounding area fills up quickly on race weekends, so book accommodation early. The hillside spectator areas offer excellent natural viewing.

ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival | 23-25 July

This is the event for anyone who has ever watched Group B rally footage and wished they could have been there. The ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival brings genuine Group B, Group A, and WRC cars from the most dramatic eras of rallying to competitive stages through the volcanic Eifel region around Daun. These are not static displays or gentle parade laps. The cars are driven with intent on closed roads through forests and villages, and the sound of an Audi Quattro S1 at full boost echoing off buildings is something that stays with you.

The Eifel landscape adds to the character. The roads twist through an ancient volcanic region with crater lakes and dense woodland, and the stages feel like they were designed specifically for rally cars. This is one of Germany’s most underrated automotive events, and anyone with even a passing interest in rally history should make the trip.

Classic Days Dusseldorf | 31 July - 2 August

Classic Days takes over the grounds of Schloss Dyck, a moated baroque castle near Dusseldorf, for an open-air festival that combines a concours d’elegance, historic demonstration runs, and a general celebration of automotive culture in a setting that could not be more picturesque. The castle park provides a natural amphitheatre for the hillclimb demonstrations, and the concours lawn in front of the castle itself is one of the best backdrops for classic cars anywhere in Germany.

Around 40,000 visitors attend across the weekend, and the mix of cars ranges from pre-war grand tourers to 1980s Group C prototypes. The atmosphere is relaxed and family-friendly, with enough space that it never feels overcrowded despite the numbers.

Nurburgring Drift Cup Round 2 | 31 July - 2 August

The second round of the Nurburgring Drift Cup returns to the Mullenbachschleife for another weekend of tandem battles and qualifying runs. By midsummer the competitive picture is usually becoming clearer, and the driving tends to be more aggressive as the points standings tighten. If you missed the April opener, this is your second chance to catch the series at the Ring before the September finale.

DTM Nurburgring | 14-16 August

The DTM’s visit to the Nurburgring GP circuit in August is usually one of the better-attended rounds, thanks to the Ring’s central location and the loyal fanbase that follows German touring car racing. The GP circuit layout produces good racing with multiple overtaking opportunities, and the August timing means the weather is generally cooperative.

The broader Nurburgring complex offers plenty to do beyond the DTM itself. Touristenfahrten sessions on the Nordschleife often run alongside race weekends, and the surrounding Eifel region has enough restaurants and hiking to fill any downtime.

Oldtimer-Grand-Prix Nurburgring | 11-13 August

Over 600 classic race cars take to the Nurburgring for what is the largest historic racing festival in Germany. The grid ranges from pre-war single-seaters to Group C prototypes, and the sight and sound of a full field of historic Formula cars on the GP circuit is something that connects you directly to decades of motorsport history.

The Oldtimer-Grand-Prix has been running for long enough to have become an institution, and the paddock reflects that. Preparation levels range from museum-quality restorations to cars that clearly spent the previous weekend being fettled in someone’s garage, and both ends of that spectrum are equally welcome. The event draws a knowledgeable crowd that appreciates the mechanical details as much as the on-track action.

Drift Masters Ferropolis | 13-15 August

Drift Masters visits Ferropolis near Grafenhainichen for the Iron Drift King collaboration, and the setting alone makes this one of the most visually striking drift events in Europe. Ferropolis is an open-air museum built on a former coal mining site, and the track is laid out among massive decommissioned industrial excavators that tower over the cars. Under floodlights at night, the combination of tyre smoke, sparks, and rusting industrial machinery creates an atmosphere that feels more like a film set than a motorsport venue.

The driving quality matches the setting. Drift Masters fields some of the best professional drifters on the continent, and the Iron Drift King format adds its own twist to the standard competition structure.

NitrOlympX Hockenheim | 21-23 August

Europe’s biggest drag racing event takes over the Hockenheim drag strip for a weekend of nitromethane, burnouts, and quarter-mile times that seem to defy physics. Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars headline the programme, producing the kind of acceleration and noise levels that you feel physically rather than simply hear. The Hockenheim facility provides proper grandstand seating along the strip, and the quality of the racing has made NitrOlympX the undisputed flagship of European drag racing.

If you have never experienced a Top Fuel dragster launching at full power from close range, this is the place to do it. The sensory overload is difficult to overstate.

GT World Challenge Nurburgring | 28-30 August

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Endurance Cup visits the Nurburgring for a three-hour GT3 race that draws factory teams from every major manufacturer. The format rewards consistency and strategy alongside outright pace, and the Nurburgring GP circuit produces close multi-class racing with enough variety in car performance to keep things interesting throughout.

This is professional GT racing at a high level, and the entry lists typically include some of the best sports car drivers in the world sharing cockpits with talented bronze-rated amateurs. The three-hour duration is long enough to create genuine strategic complexity without the logistical demands of a full endurance event.

Nurburgring Drift Cup Finale | 4-5 September

The Nurburgring Drift Cup wraps up its season with the finale in early September. Championship positions are typically still in play, which means the driving tends to be at its most committed and the atmosphere in the paddock carries genuine tension. If you have followed the series through the year, this is the payoff. If you are attending your first round, the finale concentrates the best performances of the season into a single weekend.

Techno Classica Dortmund | 24-27 September

Techno Classica has moved from its long-standing home in Essen to a new venue in Dortmund for 2026, bringing with it a new format that the organisers have been developing since the relocation was announced. The show has always been one of the most important classic car fairs in Europe, attracting major dealers, auction houses, and manufacturer heritage departments, and the move to Dortmund’s Westfalenhallen gives it more space to grow.

The new format details are still emerging, but the core appeal should remain the same: an enormous concentration of classic and collector cars for sale, with club displays, specialist parts vendors, and the kind of serendipitous finds that make these large-scale fairs worth attending even if you are not actively buying.

European TimeAttack Masters | 11 October

The European TimeAttack Masters holds a championship round at the Nurburgring GP circuit, bringing heavily modified time attack cars to one of the most demanding layouts on the calendar. Time attack occupies an interesting space in motorsport because the competition is ultimately against the clock rather than other cars on track, which means the engineering and setup decisions can be more extreme than in wheel-to-wheel racing.

The cars range from recognisable road-car silhouettes with aggressive aero packages to machines that are essentially purpose-built prototypes wearing a familiar body shell. It is a niche discipline, but the lap times these cars produce are genuinely remarkable.

DTM Hockenheimring Finale | 9-11 October

The DTM season finale at Hockenheim has become one of the most reliable highlights of the German motorsport calendar. If the championship is still alive heading into the last round, the racing takes on an intensity that the regular-season rounds rarely match, and the Hockenheimring’s mix of long straights and tight stadium-section corners provides a fitting stage for deciding a title.

Even in years where the championship is already settled, the finale atmosphere at Hockenheim is worth the trip. The paddock is more accessible than at most other events, and the Motodrom stadium section puts you close enough to the action to appreciate just how physical GT3 racing really is.

Essen Motor Show | 28 November - 6 December

The Essen Motor Show closes out the German car year with nine days dedicated to tuning, motorsport, and automotive culture. It is the largest event of its kind in Europe, filling the Messe Essen with everything from manufacturer motorsport displays to the wildest builds the European tuning community has produced over the previous twelve months.

The show has evolved considerably from its early tuning-focused roots and now covers a much broader spectrum of car culture, including classic cars, supercars, and manufacturer premieres. The timing in late November makes it a natural season-ender, and the sheer scale of the show means you will almost certainly need more than one day to see everything properly.

All 25 of these events are listed in the Corsa app with dates, locations, and details. Download Corsa to keep track of the full 2026 calendar and get notified when new events are added.