The hard X-ray beamline BL 8 at the 1.5 GeV electron storage ring DELTA is described, and experimental data of different fields of research are presented. Making use of the intense X-ray beam emitted by a superconducting wiggler, the beamline is dedicated to X-ray absorption experiments. Three different monochromator crystal pairs are permanently available for experiments in the spectral range from about 1 keV to ca. 25 keV photon energy. Results of reference materials show that high quality EXAFS data can be obtained using Si(111) and Si(311) monochromators. First measurements in the energy range between 1.2 and 5 keV have been accomplished using YB₆₆(400) monochromator crystals. The experimental hutch accommodates a unique 6-axis diffractometer which is well suited for all kinds of diffraction and absorption experiments, including the grazing incidence geometry. The diffractometer can carry heavy loads related to non-ambient sample environments such as e.g. ultrahigh vacuum sample stages or cryostats. Here we present typical results obtained at BL8 in different areas of materials science including investigations of dilute alloys by fluorescence mode EXAFS and the study of the structural changes associated with temperature induced spin transitions of metallo-supramolecular polyelectrolyte-amphiphile-complexes.