Colosseum (food)

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Wolff's Colosseum at Kopstadtplatz , on the 1st floor is the Kaiser-Café
Interior views: hall with a view of the stage, upper foyer and machine hall

The Colosseum, once located at Kopstadtplatz  12 in the Essen city center, was one of the most famous revue and operetta theaters in western Germany when it was 30 years old until 1929 .

Location and surroundings

The Colosseum was located on Kopstadtplatz, which had been the new market, fair and event space in the city center since the second half of the 19th century. During the Second World War , all buildings on Kopstadtplatz, most of which were assigned to historicism and art nouveau , were destroyed. After the war, the square lost its role as an event location due to the new traffic management of the post-war planning. It was last redesigned to its present appearance in 1991.

history

Character and architecture

The Colosseum was built at the end of the 1890s as a revue and operetta theater with around 3000 seats for the widow Mathilde Wolff and opened on January 19, 1899. In addition to in-house productions, numerous travel platforms appeared. A total of around 400 events took place each year.

The building had two façades , one on Kopstadtplatz and one on Weberstrasse. The front to Kopstadtplatz was crowned by a gilded arch with a dome over the main entrance, which was decorated with a copper figure. The theater facade was made of light Palatinate sandstone in rococo shapes based on designs by the Essen architects Bruno and Oskar Kunhenn . One entered the interior through wide entrances and wall halls with marble stairs. The theater itself was located diagonally behind the entrance building and was furnished with artistic stucco, marble and wrought iron work and covered by a ceiling with ornaments. The stalls and the two tiers one above the other offered space for around 3000 spectators. The Kaiser Café and a restaurant were on the first floor. The house had its own electrical system, which in addition to the lighting also supplied the ventilation and heating.

Advert between 1899 and 1902

Mathilde Wolff advertised her theater as the finest establishment in Rhineland and Westphalia . Her opening speech stated, among other things:

"Above all, it should be my most ardent endeavor to bring only dignified and decent things to the performance, so that the prejudice that still generally rests on the vaudeville stage disappears completely and my new building as a place of serene art a place of relaxation may be my dear guests. "

- Mathilde Wolff, opening speech

Mathilde Wolff gave her son-in-law Emil Paul Schulz sole management of the theater in 1917, who shifted the focus to operetta and called the house Komische Oper . Due to the global economic crisis and the emergence of the sound film, the number of visitors fell by a third in a short time at the end of the 1920s. In addition, the specialization in a conventional stage program with the omission of diversified entertainment programs contributed to the decline in visitors. Shortly after the 30th anniversary celebrations, the Colosseum had to close for financial reasons. In the 1930s, the lavishly designed facade was replaced by a functional facade in keeping with the spirit of the times, and the house was now called Varieté Scala . It offered 1,194 seats and around 200 standing places.

After war destruction

The building was destroyed in the air raids on Essen . The house on Kopstadtplatz was built there in 1958 and was built according to plans by the Düsseldorf architect Willy Holtgreve. It is a commercial building complex consisting of two structures (five and eight storeys). There is the glazed Kopstadt-Passage, a shopping arcade that houses the Kunstverein Ruhr and, since 2005, the Forum Art and Architecture .

Today's Colosseum Theater in Essen's west quarter is intended to be a reminder of the former cultural palace of the same name on Kopstadtplatz.

reception

Wolff's Colosseum was mentioned in the guide through Essen with a city map, street directory, theater plans and illustrations and described on three pages with numerous illustrations. According to Titus Waechtler, the building was an "ornament" for Kopstadtplatz and an "ornament" for the city of Essen.

Tony Kellen describes the building in Die Industriestadt Essen in words and pictures. History and description of the city of Essen. At the same time, a guide through Essen and the surrounding area as a "monumental new building" in "modern forms" with an interior design "that our city had never had before."

According to the Essen Monument Trail, the Colosseum as a variety theater played an important role for Kopstadtplatz as the center of the entertainment industry, alongside the other roles of Kopstadtplatz as a place of national commemoration and the new, central market square.

literature

  • Tony Kellen: Wolff's Colosseum. In: The industrial city of Essen in words and pictures. History and description of the city of Essen. At the same time a guide through Essen and the surrounding area. Essen Ruhr 1902, printed and published by Fredebeul & Koenen, pp. 103-104 ( online ).
  • Titus Waechtler: Wolff's Colosseum. In: Guide through Essen with city map, street directory, theater plans and illustrations. Printed and published by Titus Waechtler , 1900 Essen, pp. 40–43.
  • Holger Krüssmann: Architecture in Essen 1900-1960. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8375-0246-6 (edited by Berger Bergmann and Peter Brdenk).
  • Tourist association for the city and district of Essen e. V. (Ed.): Essen. Ready to work! Happy to rest! Dedicated to visitors to the city by the tourist association for the city and district of Essen. HL Geck, Essen 1913.
  • C. Brand, D. Hopp: Graves, graves, graves ... In: D. Hopp (Ed.): Brought to daylight. Archeology in the city of Essen. Essen 2008, pp. 62–68.
  • H. Burghard: Cityscapes. The shape of the city before industrialization. In: J. Gerchow (ed.): The wall of the city. Essen before Industry 1244 to 1865. Essen 1995, pp. 33–34.
  • F. Feldens: The old cemetery in the castle, Das Münster am Hellweg 7. 1954, p. 30.
  • D. Hopp: 2. Archaeological remains near the Holy Spirit Chapel. In: Essener contributions 108 , 1996, p. 297.
  • A. Reichart: Everyday life in the late Middle Ages. The transition to the early modern period using the example of the city of Essen (1400-1700). Essen 1992.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New Theater Almanac for 1910 , Volume 21, FA Günther, 1910, p. 892
  2. ↑ Krüssmann, p. 35, p. 164
  3. ↑ 400 events per year on deutsches-architektur-Forum.de
  4. ↑ The architects Oskar and Bruno Kunhenn designed the theater with a facade in rococo shapes on deutsches-architektur-Forum.de
  5. ↑ a b Titus Waechtler: Wolff's Colosseum. In: Guide through Essen with city map, street directory, theater plans and illustrations. Printed and published by Titus Waechtler, Essen 1900, pp. 40–43
  6. ↑ a b Tony Kellen: The industrial city of Essen in words and pictures. History and description of the city of Essen. At the same time a guide through Essen and the surrounding area. Essen Ruhr 1902, printed and published by Fredebeul & Koenen, pp. 103-104 ( online )
  7. ^ Matthias Uecker (Ed.): Between industrial province and big city hope. Cultural Policy in the Ruhr Area of ​​the Twenties . Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1994, ISBN 978-3-8244-4151-8 , p. 319 f .
  8. ^ Hugo Rieth: Essen in old views, Volume 1 . 3. Edition. Zaltbommel, Netherlands 1978.
  9. ↑ Krüssman, p. 164, no. 107 [house on Kopstadtplatz, architect: Willy Holtgreve, built in 1958, location: center, Kopstadtplatz 12]
  10. ^ Wolfgang Bachmann: Colosseum in Essen: Kohl & Kohl Architects. In: Baumeister, 95 (1998) 4, pp. 42-47.
  11. ↑ Jürgen Odenthal / Ulrich Tappe: The new western city in Essen with the musical theater Colosseum. In: Fallow land recycling. 5 (1998) 1, pp. 14-21
  12. ↑ Monument path: Kopstadtplatz ; Retrieved June 17, 2016

Coordinates: 51 ° 27 '30.7 "  N , 7 ° 0' 40.1"  E