Ballhof

Ballhofplatz from the east with the Ballhof Theater on the left

Information board at Ballhof for the establishment of the Association of Factory Workers in Germany in the building

Ballhofplatz to Kreuzstrasse

Ballhofplatz with theater and tower of the market church

The Ballhof is a theater on Ballhofplatz in the old town of Hanover , which belongs to the Lower Saxony State Theater Hanover .

history

Emergence

The Ballhof building was erected between 1649 and 1664 by Duke Georg Wilhelm . It should serve festivals, but also the badminton game . This was important in high society back then. In 1664 the ball court was given to the duke's valet, Francesco Maria Capellini (known as Stechinelli). In 1667, the first comedians performed in the Ballhof. From 1672 to 1852 it was the largest event hall in Hanover. The building was used as an exhibition room (also for animal shows ), as a theater and concert room and as a restaurant. In 1779/80, the then master mason Johann Georg Taentzel rebuilt the Ballhof hall.

20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the surrounding quarter with the old town center of Hanover was characterized by dilapidated medieval buildings. It was inhabited by members of the lower social class and the hygienic conditions were catastrophic.

At the beginning of the Weimar Republic , for a few years (1919–1922) a very open and lively gay and lesbian life took place in Ballhof : In the then National Theater Restaurant at the then address Burgstrasse 9 , “Entrance also Ballhofstrasse. 17 ”, the society club“ Aada ”had its seat, in which at the end of 1919, for example, the cabaret artist Friedel Friedrich Schwarz performed.

In 1936/37 extensive renovation and restoration work took place at the Ballhof. In 1939 the old town was renovated in the surrounding district, during which the old half-timbered houses were torn down all around. Only the Ballhof building remained standing. The intention of the National Socialists was also to disperse the “red” working-class electorate in the district. From 1939 the Ballhof was a home for the Hitler Youth .

After both houses of the Lower Saxony State Theater in Hanover that had been used in 1943 were destroyed as a result of the air raids on Hanover during World War II, the ensemble moved to the Ballhof. In 1946 the first theater performance in Hanover after the war took place in the Ballhof.

In 1973/74 the Ballhof was converted into a modern chamber theater. In 1975 the Ballhof fountain was installed on the square. It was created by the Munich sculptor Helmut Otto Schön. He dedicated the fountain to Carl Orff for his eightieth birthday.

In 1990 the building was expanded, creating another, smaller theater called “Ballhof Zwei”. Up until the inauguration of the new playhouse in 1992, the Ballhof was the main theater of the Lower Saxony State Theater's play.

today

Swarm artist of the art project bar code sticking price labels on the Ballhofplatz

The Ballhof belongs to the Lower Saxony State Theater Hanover (Hanover Opera and Hanover Drama). The "Ballhof eins" has 300 seats. Both the Ballhof Eins and Ballhof Zwei are home to the Junge Oper and Junge Schauspiel. Music events such as the “Jazz am Ballhof” take place in front of the Ballhof.

Ballhofplatz is a significant, albeit somewhat withdrawn, square in Hanover. In the surrounding street bars, visitors experience the quiet open space as a stage for various artistic performances such as concerts or street art. In the Strich-Code project, Ballhofplatz is the hinge on the axis between the neighboring Historical Museum and the Steintorviertel.

literature

• Helmut Plath : The Ballhof up to 1936. In: Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter , New Series 29 (1975), pp. 89–119
• Rudolf Lange : A short walk through Hanover's theater history (= Prinzenstrasse. Hannoversche Hefte zur Theatergeschichte , No. 2), 1992, passim
• Rainer Hoffschildt : The "Ballhof" , in this: Olivia. The hitherto secret history of the taboo homosexuality and the persecution of homosexuals in Hanover . Association for research into the history of homosexuals in Lower Saxony, Hanover 1992, self-published, ISBN 3-9802909-0-5 , p. 64f.
• Helmut Knocke , Hugo Thielen : Ballhofplatz 4 , in Dirk Böttcher , Klaus Mlynek (ed.): Hannover. Kunst- und Kultur-Lexikon (HKuKL), new edition, 4th, updated and expanded edition, zu Klampen, Springe 2007, ISBN 978-3-934920-53-8 , p. 89
• Hugo Thielen : Ballhof. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , pp. 45f.

Web links

Commons : Ballhof (Hannover)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Ballhofplatz (Hannover)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Interactive 360 ​​° panorama photo of the Ballhofplatz - daytime
• Interactive 360 ​​° panorama photo of the Ballhofplatz - at night
• Description of the Ballhofplatz ( Memento from February 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Knocke, Hugo Thielen: Ballhofplatz 4. In: Hannover Art and Culture Lexicon , p. 89
2. ↑ Gay Web Hannover / HuK ( Memento from October 25, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Rainer Hoffschildt: Homosexuality in National Socialism - Friedrich Schwarz, 1943 , in Richard Borek (Ed.): Germany Archive. Third Reich documents (loose-leaf collection), Braunschweig: Archiv Verlag, 2017, sheet 00417

Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 20 ″  N , 9 ° 43 ′ 58 ″  E