Düsseldorf Volksbühne

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Culture on the Rhine - Düsseldorfer Volksbühne ev is the largest public organization in North Rhine-Westphalia and the third largest in Germany. Founded in 1946, the association provides its members with discounted tickets for cultural events with the non-profit purpose of “bringing together all those interested in cultural life and waking up this interest in broader sections of the population”.

Origin of the Volksbühne

The Volksbühne idea originated in Berlin at the end of the 19th century. The Freie Volksbühne was founded there in 1890 with the aim of enabling mostly workers to go to the theater and to break the educational monopoly held by the bourgeoisie until then. The forerunner was the Free Stage, which was founded in 1889 by theater critics and writers in Berlin. The statute at that time read: "The task of presenting poetry in its modern direction to the people and, in particular, of presenting contemporary poetry filled with truthfulness, reading it out and explaining it through lectures."

The Association of German Volksbühne clubs existed from 1920 to 1933. The Volksbühne rented halls, dedicated theater groups, invited readings and lectures, and booked performances at existing theaters for its members. In addition, the Volksbühne had its own touring stage for underserved provinces and founded its own publishing house. By the end of the twenties, the Volksbühnen movement had reached its zenith with around 540,000 members in over 300 associations throughout Germany.

At the time of National Socialism, the existing people's theaters and many workers' associations were brought into line. In the post-war period, the Volksbühnen were re-established in many places.

Prohibition and a new beginning

In terms of ideals, activities and their democratic structure, the Volksbühnen contradicted the Nazi regime at the time and were banned as early as 1933.

The association Kulturfreunde e. V. was jointly responsible for the re-establishment of the German Volksbühnen in 1946. In the course of time, this association took the traditional name of “Düsseldorfer Volksbühne e. V. “. The first chairman was Mathieu Högener. He was already involved in the founding in 1921, had taken over the chairmanship of the board in 1923 and was also instrumental in the new beginning of the Düsseldorfer Volksbühne e. V. responsible. He gave this honorary position to his son Gerd Högener in 1961 . The Düsseldorf Volksbühne also owes its headquarters to the former city director and longstanding first chairman of the board, Gerd Högener, as he bequeathed the residential and commercial building to the association. In memory of the sponsor and to support young musical talents, the Düsseldorf Volksbühne has been awarding the Gerd Högener Prize annually since 2004 together with the city's Clara Schumann Music School.

Career at the Düsseldorfer Volksbühne

The Düsseldorfer Volksbühne was officially founded in 1948. The Düsseldorfer Volksbühne moved from Winkelsfelder Strasse to a basement on Schanzenstrasse in Oberkassel, then found its first office in the old post office building on Drakestrasse and moved into its own, newly built house at Wettinerstrasse 13 in 1967, where the Düsseldorf Volksbühne. Since September 1, 2015, the Düsseldorf Volksbühne has had the addition "Culture on the Rhine" in its name.

Board

The board of directors of the Düsseldorfer Volksbühne has a total of 17 members. Werner Sesterhenn (1st chairman), Jörg Bickenbach and Peter Haseley form the executive board. The extended board comprises 12 people plus two honorary members. The members of the board are elected for three years at the annual general meeting by the members present.

Focus of work

Every year the Düsseldorf Volksbühne arranges around 180,000 discounted tickets to 11,500 members for cultural events of all kinds in more than 76 venues in and around Düsseldorf . Guided tours, workshops and cultural trips are also part of the club's offer.

Theater award

The Düsseldorf Volksbühne theater award is an audience award, so the winners are chosen by the members. The prize is endowed with € 5,000 for 1st place and € 2,500 for 2nd place; it was last awarded for 2010 and 2011, but is currently suspended.

The winners of the past years are:

2001–2002: 1. Alexandra von der Weth , 2. Daniela Kiefer
2003-2004: 1. Hardy Krüger , 2. Anastassis Christoyannis
2005-2006: 1. Nataliya Kovalova, 2. Horst Mendroch
2008–2009: 1st Susanne Tremper , 2nd Kom (m) ödchen ensemble
2010–2011: 1. Martin Schläpfer , 2. Johanna von Koczian

An overview of the venues

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Volksbühnenspiegel , March 2013, p. 12. Accessed April 30, 2014.
  2. ^ Articles of Association . Website of the Düsseldorfer Volksbühne. Retrieved on April 30, 2014. VR no. 3962.
  3. ↑ Erika Fischer-Lichte: Brief history of the German theater. UTB, 1967, ISBN 978-3-8252-1667-2 , p. 256 ( excerpts online )