Bad Vilbel Castle Festival

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Castle backdrop from the outside

The Bad Vilbel Castle Festival has been held annually since 1987 from the beginning of May to the beginning of September in the historic moated castle of Bad Vilbel . With over 100,000 visitors per season and 230 events from May to September, the Castle Festival is one of the most popular festivals in Hesse. From the beginning of one drama production per season, the Castle Festival has now developed into a three-branch operation with drama, music theater and children's and youth theater. Of the total of 10 productions with professional artists from all over the German-speaking area, 4 are for a young audience. There are also 15 guest performances that take place either in the evening or on Sundays at 12 noon. Since 2000, the Bad Vilbel Castle Festival has been part of the working group of ten German festival venues, an association of professional open-air theaters.

The venue

Bad Vilbel moated castle

The castle festival takes place every year in the walls of an old moated castle , located in the northern part of the Bad Vilbeler Kurpark. This moated castle was once the residence of the Knights of Vilbel, from 1581 to 1796 it served as the official residence of the Electoral Mainz administration. Its oldest components date from the 12th century. After its destruction in 1399, it was rebuilt and enlarged; it has remained in ruins since the second destruction in 1796. The surrounding moat, the gate with a coat of arms, a baroque fountain in the courtyard and the large hall above a long, deep cellar, today's theater cellar with about 90 seats are remarkable. In the castle courtyard, with a largely covered grandstand, there are around 730 seats available for each performance during the Castle Festival.

History of the Castle Festival

In 1986 the idea was developed to open an open-air theater in the ruins of the Bad Vilbeler Wasserburg. The initiators were Bodo Preck , who later became director of the Castle Festival, and mayor Günther Biwer.

The first Bad Vilbel Castle Festival took place in the summer of 1987. The program featured Dario Niccodemi's comedy “Scampolo” with Barbara Kratz in the leading role as well as Klaus Dahlen, Sonya Martin and others. Due to the positive response, it was decided to make the festival in Bad Vilbel a regular facility.

In 1988 and 1989 there was only one in-house production on the program. In 1990 the offer was expanded to include a number of events: Theater for children was shown for the first time, literary matinees were held on five Sundays, and for the first time another ensemble was invited, the Ettlingen Castle Festival . Also in 1990 Klaus Havenstein took over the management of the Castle Festival. For the fifth anniversary of the Castle Festival, two in-house productions were added to the program in 1991, and the range of guest performances was also expanded.

In 1993 Jörg Reichlin took over the artistic direction of the Burgfestspiele for the following six seasons. With Shakespeare's "All's well that ends well" in 1994 in Neuwied and Bad Pyrmont, the first guest experience was gained. The castle cellar has also been used for performances since 1995. The cultural office of the city of Bad Vilbel, which organized the Castle Festival from the beginning, has also been artistic director since 1999 with the head of the cultural office, Claus Kunzmann. Since then, the number of shows and the number of viewers has grown continuously. There are now 6 plays, two for children and young people, three musicals, one for children and the opera for children and families on the program of the Castle Festival.

The number of visitors rose continuously from around 5,000 at the beginning to, constantly in recent years, over 100,000.

Since November 2000, the Bad Vilbel Castle Festival has been a member of the Working Group of German Festival Locations alongside Bad Hersfeld, Ettlingen, Jagsthausen and others.

The festival area

Administration and workshop are located in the tithe barn

In addition to the castle as the center of the festival area, the tithe barn opposite , a historic half-timbered building opposite the moated castle , has also been used for the castle festival since 1993 . In it are u. a. the ticket office and the workshops (carpentry, tailoring and the electrical workshop). The historic Bad Vilbel town hall - also part of the festival grounds - has been the headquarters of the management and administration of the Castle Festival since 2016.

The program design and implementation as well as all administrative tasks of the castle festival are carried out by the municipal cultural office.

The game plan

The program was expanded from initially a single production together with the stage equipment. With the expansion of the schedule, the equipment of the stage and the entire festival area, as well as the work rooms and the open-air foyer, were expanded. Today there are 10 productions that are rehearsed and performed on site. The evening program on the Burghof stage is the centerpiece of the program, it offers two plays and two musicals. In addition, the theater for children and young people has established itself as an integral part. The season starts with a play, a musical and an opera for the young audience. This also includes a performance for young people in the theater basement. The theater cellar has meanwhile been very popular with its own audience and is also used for two productions.

The theater program is complemented by the guest performances, which come up with cabaret or professional artists from all over the German-speaking area both in the evenings and on Sundays at 12 noon.

The productions

Castle wall with parts of the backdrop

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

  • The School of Women (Wolfgang Deichsel)
  • Frank & Stein ( Ken Campbell )
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare)
  • The Tartüff (Wolfgang Deichsel)
  • The Good Thief (Conor McPherson)

2001

  • The Threepenny Opera (Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill)
  • The pants (Carl Sternheim)
  • We judge sharply and warmly (Jo van Nelsen)
  • The conceited sick person (Wolfgang Deichsel)
  • The Threepenny Opera

2002

  • The name of the rose (Umberto Eco)
  • Bleiwe losse (Wolfgang Deichsel)
  • Please shoot your husband! (Jo von Nelsen)
  • Out of Control (Ray Cooney)
  • We judge sharply and warmly (Jo von Nelsen)
  • The imaginary sick person (Wolfgang Deichsel)

2003

  • As You Like It (William Shakespeare)
  • Evita (Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice)
  • Lola Blau ( Georg Kreisler )
  • Hole in the head (Wolfgang Deichsel)
  • The naked madness (Michael Frayn)

2004

  • The robbery of the Sabine women (Franz and Paul Schönthan)
  • Evita (Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice)
  • The three musketeers (Axel Schneider after A. Dumas)
  • Faust (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

2005

  • The Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare)
  • The Comedian Harmonists (Gottfried Greiffenhagen / Franz Wittenbrink)
  • Maria Stuart (Friedrich Schiller)
  • And the money rushes forever (Michael Cooney)
  • Real feeling (erotic reading)
  • Shakespeare, Murderers, Pulp and Fiction (John von Düffel)

2006

  • Pension Schöller ( Carl Laufs / Wilhelm Jacoby )
  • Harry and Sally (Joan Vives)
  • Othello (William Shakespeare)
  • Now or never - The Comedian Harmonists Part II (Gottfried Greiffenhagen / Jörg Daniel Heinzmann)
  • Real feeling N. 2 (erotic reading)
  • Misery (Stephen King / Simon Moore)

2007

2008

  • The Captain of Köpenick (Carl Zuckmayer)
  • Cabal and love (Friedrich Schiller)
  • Frankenstein's Monster (Friedrich Karl Waechter)
  • Jekyll & Hyde (Leslie Bricusse)
  • Ladies Night (McCarten, Sinclair)

2009

  • Flea in the ear (Georges Feydeau)
  • Cabaret (Masteroff, Ebb, Kander)
  • Hamlet (Shakespeare)
  • Mini skirt and hit parade
  • Ladies Night (McCarten, Sinclair)

2010

  • My Fair Lady (Loewe, learner)
  • The robbers (Schiller)
  • Calendar Boys (Kruppa, Pinkus)
  • We make music - a UFA revue
  • The nicer the hit!
  • Don Camillo and Peppone (Theobalt, Guareschi)

2011

  • The Feuerzangenbowle (Spoerl)
  • Anatevka (buck / stone)
  • Tortellini
  • Tourists and a will
  • Don Karlos (Schiller)
  • Whole Guys (Renard)
  • The Magic Flute for Children (Mozart)
  • Shockheaded Peter // Struwwelpeter (McDermott / Crouch)

2012

  • Arsenic and lace cap (Kesselring)
  • The Devil's General (Zuckmayer)
  • Kiss me kate (porter)
  • Longing for St. Pauli
  • Michel from Lönneberga (Lindgren)
  • Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)
  • Shockheaded Peter // Struwwelpeter (McDermott / Crouch)
  • The Geierwally (Bockmayer)

2015

  • The Popess (Susanne Felicitas Wolf / after Donna Woolfolk Cross)
  • Singin 'in the Rain (Betty Comden, Adolph Green)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare)
  • Flashdance - The Musical (T. Hedley, R. Cary, R. Roth)
  • The Flying Dutchman (Richard Wagner)
  • The little witch (Otfried Preußler)
  • The Wizard of Oz (Christian H. Voss / Lyman F. Bau)
  • Good against north wind (D. Glattauer)
  • Tschick 2015 (Wolfgang Herrndorf, Robert Koall)
  • All seven waves (D. Glattauer)

2016

  • My friend Harvey (M. Chase)
  • Evita - Don't cry for me Argentina (AL Webber / T. Rice)
  • The name of the rose (after U. Eco)
  • The Little Horror Shop (H. Ashman)
  • The Magic Flute (WA Mozart)
  • Ronja the Robber's Daughter (A. Lindgren)
  • Jim Button and Lukas the Engine Driver (after M. Ende)
  • Tschick (Wolfgang Herrndorf, Robert Koall)
  • He is back (after Timur Vermes)
  • Moonlight tariff (Ildikó von Kürthy)
  • The 39 steps (Alfred Hitchcock / John Buchan)

2017

2018

2019

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. 100,000 mark cracked . Frankfurter Rundschau. September 9, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  2. Pippi beats everyone. Zeitungsring Lokalpresse GmbH Bad Vilbel, September 13, 2018, accessed on January 3, 2019 .
  3. Schedule 2019. Accessed January 3, 2019 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 11 ′ 6 "  N , 8 ° 44 ′ 41"  E