The Alfred Wegener Institute Climate Model (AWI-CM) participates for the first time in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), CMIP6. The ocean component FESOM runs on an unstructured mesh with horizontal resolutions ranging from 8 to 80 km, which is effectively one of the highest ocean resolutions used in CMIP6; it is coupled to the Max-Planck-Institute atmospheric model ECHAM 6.3 at around 100 km horizontal resolution. AWI-CM performs better than the average of CMIP5 models when compared to observations with objective performance indices. AWI-CM shows an equilibrium climate sensitivity of 3.2°C similar to the CMIP5 average, and a transient climate response of 2.1°C which is slightly higher than the CMIP5 average of around 1.8°C. The negative trend of Arctic sea ice extent over the past 30 years is weaker in our simulations compared to observations. Patterns and even magnitude of simulated changes at the end of this century compared to present-day climate according to the strong emission scenario SSP585 are very similar to the multi-model CMIP5 mean. 11°C warming north of the Barents Sea and around 2 to 3°C over most parts of the ocean as well as Arctic, subpolar, tropical and Southern Ocean wetting are simulated. Furthermore, in the northern mid-latitudes in boreal summer and autumn as well as in the nouthern mid-latitudes throughout the year a more zonal atmospheric flow is projected. Around 2070, less than 1 Million kmof Arctic and Antarctic sea ice remain in September and March, respectively, in the strong emission scenario simulation.