The Elbphilharmonie may have been a place for surprises since its opening, but there has never been anything like what happened here on 10 March 2025. On this day, its iconic white roof was the setting for a unique stunt: at a height of 100 metres, 29-year old mountain bike pro Fabio Wibmer started up with his bike on a ramp specifically built for this on a roof wave, performed a backflip (back-somersault) there – and came to a safe stop just before the edge of the roof. He also demonstrated various tricks with his bicycle in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie.
Austrian freestyle biker Fabio Wibmer became famous as a result of his daring YouTube clips. Millions of followers watch him as he races down slopes at top speed on his bike, jumps intrepidly over obstacles or manoeuvres himself creatively through the city. He has navigated countless things with his mountain bike – an iconic landmark has now been added to this with the Elbphilharmonie. Wibmer came to Hamburg prior to the European tour of »Masters of Dirt«, a freestyle show where you can also watch him in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin in May.
About the roof of the Elbphilharmonie
The roof of the Elbphilharmonie was described as the »fifth façade« by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron – because you can clearly see the vast, 700-tonne roof construction from a distance. The roof consists of a total of eight concave subareas towering into a huge wave at a gradient of up to 57 degrees. At its lowest point, the roof is 88 metres high; at its highest point, 110 metres. The top level of the roof area consists of 6000 white “sequins” punched with holes ensuring that the roof shimmers like the surface of the water when viewed from a distance.
The roof of the Elbphilharmonie was repurposed once before: in 2021, techno marching band MEUTE used it as their stage for a 40-minute music session. With Fabio Wibmer’s stunt, its unique architecture was used for a video production once again sending spectacular images of Hamburg and the Elbphilharmonie into the world.
