Directorates of the Vienna Burgtheater
This article deals with the directors of the Vienna Burgtheater since 1776, when the old theater of the Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz was declared a "Teutsches Nationaltheater" by Emperor Joseph II .
First directors of the old Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz (1776–1814)
Artists' republic (April 8, 1776 to February 25, 1789): 15 of 22 members elected 9 alternating mothers-to-be and a director, Christian Gottlob Stephanie the Elder. Ä. Later 5 stage managers were elected by the members: Stephanie d. Ä., Johann Heinrich Friedrich Müller, Gottlieb Stephanie d. J. , Konrad Steigentesch (after his death: Josef Lange), Franz Carl Hieronymus Brockmann.
Johann Franz Brockmann (February 26, 1790 to 1790): After the election by the Acting Society, Brockmann was appointed conductor , i.e. artistic director, by the emperor . Brockmann was the first to act solely as the theater's artistic director.
Director's Board (November 21, 1792 to July 31, 1794): After the Board of Directors had unofficially replaced Brockmann in 1790, it was officially recognized by the Kaiser in 1792. His members were: Stephanie d. Ä., Stephanie d. J., JHF Müller (from 1794: Philipp Friedrich Klingmann), Joseph Weidmann and Brockmann. The complicated conditions in the top management were responsible for the late recognition. On January 25, 1791, Emperor Leopold II relieved Prince Franz Xaver Wolfgang von Orsini-Rosenberg from the highest theatrical direction . In his place, the music cavalier Johann Wenzel Count Ugarte was appointed court theater music director. Leopold II died on March 1, 1792. His successor Franz II decided on July 4, 1792 to lease the court theaters. But no suitable tenants were found. Now Orsini-Rosenberg was asked by the emperor to make a proposal for the future management of the theater. As a result, Count Ugarte was released from his management duties on November 11, 1792, which were now taken over by Orsini-Rosenberg.
On November 21, 1792, Emperor Franz determined that the diverse theatrical business (namely opera and drama) could not possibly be managed by a single person; A further complicating factor is that Brockmann is also active as an actor. The already existing five-person committee, which shared the management tasks, was officially recognized.
Peter von Braun (August 1, 1794 to December 31, 1806): During this time, the Burgtheater was leased. Braun's official title was vice director . Braun, who was given the title of baron in 1795 , acted as a tenant himself from 1804, which he originally intended to stay for fifteen years. In the same year Braun dismissed the traditional Italian opera company, which was once important for the performance of Mozart operas, but it was quite expensive. Braun's lease allowed him to give any kind of theater at his discretion, without being forced to perform ballets or Italian operas. The only obligation was to have performances every day. Italian operas in Italian were soon offered by the Kärntnerthortheater, where the works of Gaetano Donizetti (who temporarily worked as court composer) and Gioachino Rossini were also performed. The long Italian tradition of the Burgtheater was now over.
Kavaliersdirektion (January 1, 1807 to March 31, 1817): The “Society of Cavaliers” took over the two court theaters from Braun in 1806 as well as the Theater an der Wien, which Braun had recently bought . This "consortium" consisted of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy , Prince Joseph von Schwarzenberg , Count Ferdinand Pálffy, Count Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz , Count Stephan Zichy, Count Franz Esterházy, Count Franz Niklas Esterházy and Count Hieronymus Lodron. During the time of the Kavaliersdirektion, in November 1810, the decision was made to only perform speaking pieces in the Burgtheater. From this point on, the Kavaliersdirektion was only formed by Count Palffy, Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Schwarzenberg, with the latter two acting as silent partners. From February 11, 1811 Count Palffy acted under the title of Court Theater Director . He was succeeded by Prince Lobkowitz in 1812 under the same name. From 1814 on, Count Palffy was the tenant again.
Vormärz and Biedermeier (1814–1849)
Joseph Schreyvogel (April 1, 1814 to May 13, 1832) held the title of Artistic Secretary . He was also deputy director of the Theater an der Wien, where the court actors were appointed from April 1814 to 1817 as required. During this time, the same pieces were shown alternately in the Theater an der Wien and in the Burgtheater. In his era, the lease ended on March 31, 1817.
Johann Ludwig Deinhardstein (June 1, 1832 to March 31, 1841) worked under the title of Vice Director . Before his appointment, he had worked as a professor of aesthetics and literature at the Theresian Knight Academy .
Franz Ignaz von Holbein (Edler von Holbeinsberg) (April 3, 1841 to December 26, 1849): Holbein, born in 1779 in Zistersdorf , Lower Austria , was again director . Holbein had led an eventful life; as an actor, singer and theater director he had traveled all over Germany and in 1827 took over as director of the royal stage in Hanover . The reputation of being a skilled businessman reached as far as Vienna, where he was appointed to the position of Burg director without having applied for it.
In his era there were many short-term engagements, most of which were on a trial basis. The basis was his authorization to conclude contracts independently, provided that they did not burden the theater box office for more than a year. Towards the end of his management time, Holbein limited himself more and more to the economic management of the Burgtheater, whereas the artistic direction was strongly influenced by the chief treasurer Moriz Graf Dietrichstein. More and more voices were in favor of reforming the court theaters.
The decades after the March Revolution (1849–1888)
Heinrich Laube (December 26, 1849 to September 30, 1867) was initially provisional until July 22, 1851, after which he was definitely artistic director . Even in the era of his predecessor Holbein, Laube himself staged his play Die Karlsschüler at the Burgtheater (premiere on April 24, 1848). The performance was a resounding success. Laube had also spoken out in a letter for a reform of the court theater. Obersthofkämmerer Graf Dietrichstein was enthusiastic about this and recommended the appointment of Laube as artistic director, while Councilor Holbein would have to concentrate on economic issues. However, Count Dietrichstein resigned from his position on December 1, 1848. On February 24, 1849, a commission was set up to discuss the reforms at the court theater. After tough negotiations that dragged on for over a year, the imperial resolution of December 26th, 1849 appointed Dr. Heinrich Laube provisionally appointed artistic director of the Burgtheater for a period of five years; on July 22, 1851, however, at the instigation of the Chamberlain, Karl Graf Lanckoronski, Laube became the definitive artistic director.
Like many other castle directors, Laube's era ended with an irreconcilable dispute. After the Chief Chamberlain, Prince Auersperg, died on July 8, 1867, a handwritten letter from Emperor Franz Joseph I dated July 11, 1867 transferred the management of the two court theaters to the Prefect of the Court Library, Eligius Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen, who was now entitled to General Manager should officiate. Münch-Bellinghausen, who acted as a writer under the pseudonym Friedrich Halm , was instructed in a service regulation to proceed in agreement with the directorates regarding the artistic direction of the two court theaters. The consultations with Laube, however, revealed serious differences of opinion, especially with regard to the repertoire and the line-up. Laube wanted to decide autonomously on these two points. General manager Münch-Bellinghausen did not want to accept a passive role, however; he saw it as a violation of the dignity of his office and his literary name. However, Laube insisted on his point of view and eventually offered his resignation, which was then accepted.
Eligius Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen (October 1867 to January 9, 1868) served as an interim artistic director; he used the pseudonym Friedrich Halm .
August Wolff (January 10, 1868 to December 31, 1870) carried the title of Director , like all of his regular successors from now on . Before he was appointed head of the castle, he was chief director of the Mannheim theater. Förster's predecessor Münch-Bellinghausen now advanced to general manager of the court theaters. However, he tied all rights to the selection of pieces, the engagements and the cast to his person, Wolff, however, was only the executive organ. When Münch-Bellinghausen applied for his removal from office for health reasons in 1870 and this was granted on November 1st, the situation was difficult. Important decisions could or should not be made by the powerless Wolff.
Franz von Dingelstedt (December 19, 1870 to May 15, 1881): The solution for the castle management crisis of 1870 was found on site, namely in the Vienna court opera director Franz von Dingelstedt. He not only knew the Viennese scene, but had also previously directed the theaters in Weimar and Munich . So with a decree of December 19, the removal of Wolff and at the same time the appointment of Dingelstedt was announced. This happened right from the start with a view to building a new house. Dingelstedt, who was released from the management of the court opera, was to remain in charge of the castle until the new court theater was completed.
From April 17 to 23, 1875, Dingelstedt had Shakespeare's royal dramas performed cyclically for the first time: King Richard II (April 17), King Henry IV (Part I) (April 18), King Henry IV ( Part II) (April 19), King Henry V (April 20), King Henry V (April 21), King Henry VI. (Part I) (April 21), King Henry VI. (Part II) (April 22nd), King Richard III. (April 23). The royal dramas cycle remained a permanent feature on the program for several years. He only disappeared under Dingelstedt's successor, Wilbrandt.
Since 1880 Dingelstedt was bedridden and managed the management business from his sick bed. After his death on May 15, 1881, the actors Carl La Roche, Ludwig Gabillon, Adolf Sonnenthal, Josef Lewinsky and Ernst Hartmann took over provisional management.
Adolf von Wilbrandt (November 30, 1881 to June 23, 1887): There were numerous applications for the successor to Dingelstedt, from which two people emerged, the actor August Förster and the poet Adolf Wilbrandt.
The press stood up for Wilbrandt. General director Freiherr von Hofmann was also inclined to this view, and so Wilbrandt was appointed director on November 10, 1881 by the highest resolution. All artistic agendas, the choice of pieces as well as the composition of the repertoire and the casting of the roles were subordinate to Wilbrandt. Only those artistic questions that had economic consequences had to be decided together with the general director.
Shortly after Wilbrandt took office, the theater at Michaelerplatz had to be stopped. First on December 12th, when the victims of the Ringtheater fire were buried and the Hofburgtheater was closed by order of Emperor Franz Joseph. The second interruption also had to do with the fire: from January 2nd to 23rd, 1882, safety precautions against the risk of fire were installed in the old theater building. During this time all performances of the Hofburgtheater took place in the Hofoperntheater.
Adolf von Sonnenthal (June 27, 1887 to October 31, 1888) was the provisional director. In the spring of 1887 there were increasingly clear rumors that Wilbrandt was about to resign. He found the collaboration with the general manager increasingly tight and time-consuming, and he also wanted to work more as a poet again. The numerous attempts to get Wilbrandt to stay were ultimately in vain. So Adolf von Sonnenthal was appointed provisional castle boss on June 27th.
Two major events occurred during Sonnenthal's interim term of office: the appointment of Alfred von Berger as artistic secretary and the opening of the new Burgtheater on Ringstrasse. However, the wish, expressed in many important places to convert the provisional into a definitive, did not succeed: Sonnenthal refused to take over the office of director of the Hofburgtheater.
On October 12, 1888, the last performance took place in the old house: Goethe's Iphigenie on Tauris with Charlotte Wolter as Iphigenie. Two days later, on October 14th, the opening performance took place in the new house on Franzensring: The overture was The Consecration of the House by Ludwig van Beethoven , followed by a scenic prologue by Josef Weilen (in it Sonnenthal as “The Spirit of the Old Burgtheater "And Charlotte Wolter as" The Genius of Poetry "), then Esther von Franz Grillparzer (with Sonnenthal as King) and finally Friedrich Schiller's Wallenstein's lager was shown .
The new Burgtheater am Ring (1888–1912)
August Förster (November 1, 1888 to December 22, 1889) was once again the definitive director. He was appointed castle boss on October 25, 1888. Förster, who had been with the Burgtheater since 1858, had already represented the director during Dingelstedt's illness. In staging the royal dramas, he had proven his talent as a director. He had also achieved services as an actor, editor and translator. Laube's style had influenced him strongly, and he planned to revisit the artistic methods of that era. He wanted to reorganize the Burgtheater based on the model of the Comédie-Française in Paris and the German Theater in Berlin , of which he was a co-founder. The greatest attention should be paid to the classical repertoire from Shakespeare to Schiller and exemplary productions should be developed.
Like his predecessor Wilbrandt, Förster was forced to close the theater only a few weeks after taking office: Crown Prince Rudolf had committed suicide, so there were no performances from January 30th to February 9th, 1889. In addition, the Burgtheater management was instructed by the highest authority not to show any plays in which suicides occur in the future. In Hamlet , the gravedigger scene and the dialogues about Ophelias suicide had to be dropped. However, Förster's ambitious goals remained unfulfilled; they were thwarted by his sudden death on December 22, 1889.
Adolf von Sonnenthal (December 27, 1889 to May 12, 1890) Sonnenthal acted as provisional director for a second time after Förster's death. Initially, however, a dual direction was planned, and Baron Berger was to share the tasks with Sonnenthal. But just five days after his appointment, Berger resigned on January 3, 1890.
Max Burckhard (May 12, 1890 to January 25, 1898) After Sonnenthal refused to take over the management once again, they looked for a successor and found a surprising solution in Burckhard. Burckhard was a civil servant with the rank of Deputy Ministerial Secretary and lecturer in Austrian private law . Known as a brilliant lawyer, however, nothing was known about his talent for managing a theater. But Burckhard turned out to be an ingenious "lateral entrant" who quickly knew how to appease the mistrust that was coming towards him, both inside and outside the house. In his era there were 145 pieces in the repertoire, 62 of them from the old house on Michaelerplatz, 83 newly staged in his time as director. He succeeded in attracting new audiences through reduced Sunday afternoon performances.
Last but not least, Burckhard opened the Burgtheater to major new authors, including Henrik Ibsen , Gerhart Hauptmann and Ludwig Anzengruber . For example, Arthur Schnitzler was played at the castle for the first time during Burckhard's time. On October 9, 1895, Schnitzler's Liebelei was premiered with Sonnenthal as Alter Weiring , Adele Sandrock as Christine and Friedrich Mitterwurzer as Ein Herr . This production was on the program until September 15, 1910 and was shown a total of 42 times with changing cast of most of the leading roles.
Burckhard's time as director was also affected by a longer closure this time: Between April 11 and September 15, 1897, the theater was closed for renovation work, so there were performances in the Court Opera House from June 30 to July 18. Overall, Burckhard succeeded through his innovations in securing additional Burgtheater visitors among workers and students, and the progressive press supported him. His opponents, however, were among the regular audience as well as the representatives of the Burgtheater tradition. Burckhard was blamed for neglecting the classical repertoire. The French society piece, which appealed to the nobility and the upper classes and which Burckhard's predecessor had also brought full coffers, was missing.
Finally, Burckhard's stumbling block became the fact that he worked as a playwright himself: The mayoral election was performed at the Deutsches Volkstheater and Das Katherl at the Raimundtheater . In it, the good company was criticized with great success, but this was seen by many as incompatible with the office of a castle boss. Burckhard finally saw this and asked for his release, which was obeyed.
Paul Schlenther (January 26, 1898 to February 28, 1910): After Burckhard's resignation, there were a number of names that came into question as possible successors. Among them were Heinrich Bulthaupt , Emil Claar , the experienced theater director of the Stadttheater Frankfurt, the Munich chief director Jocza Savits and Schlenther, theater critic for the Berliner Vossische Zeitung , who had been suggested by a group of actors. These actors had influence, and so Schlenther was appointed director on January 25, 1898. Schlenther's plan was to maintain both the classical repertoire and show novelties. Schlenther's era was also affected by the closure of the theater not long after it began: after the death of Empress Elisabeth, there were no performances from September 11 to 19, 1898.
Like his predecessor, Schlenther wanted to attract new audiences to his house. For example, from January 1st to 15th, 1899, there were classics in the afternoon for workers and students: Maria Stuart von Schiller, A Winter's Tale and The Taming of the Shakespeare. The Italian actress Eleonora Duse and her company also made a guest appearance at the Burgtheater, where Gabriele D'Annunzio's La Gioconda was played. A major innovation was noted from April 1901: From now on the names of the directors appeared on the theater slips. The new production of Nestroys Lumpacivagabundus on April 21st named Hugo Thimig as the person responsible for directing (this production was only shown three times until December 8th, 1901).
A mammoth production was realized by chance in Schlenther's era when a production of Schiller's Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (premiered January 17 and 21, 1905; directed by Hugo Thimig; Josef Kainz as Don Carlos, Sonnenthal as Philip II) proved ineffective for the public. Out of consideration for the subscription, the two parts could not be played on two days in a row, but there were up to four days in between. Therefore it was decided to play both parts in one evening from January 26th, 1905. The performance started at 6:30 p.m. and lasted until 12:23 a.m. In this form, the production was on the program until April 15, 1917.
On the occasion of Schiller's centenary of death, a Schiller cycle was played from May 4 to 20, 1905, which consisted of ten evenings: The robbers , Fiesko's conspiracy on Genoa , cabal and love , Don Carlos, Infant of Spain , Wallenstein's camp - The Piccolomini - Wallenstein's Death , Maria Stuart , The Maid of Orleans , The Bride of Messina , William Tell .
One of Schlenther's innovations was to introduce two types of prices, namely higher prices for premieres or when famous guests appear, and lower prices for regular repertoire performances. Nevertheless, this could not prevent falling revenues. Another idea by Schlenther was not realized: he had suggested building a small house for 500 to 600 visitors and adding it to the Burgtheater as a chamber theater. Schlenther, on the other hand, was accused of neglecting the ensemble and relying too much on stars like Kainz. Nevertheless, Schlenther was able to hold out for twelve years.
Only a theater scandal put an end to his era. On October 23, 1909, the comedy Hargudl am Bach or The League of Personalities was shown by Hans Müller, who targeted Viennese writers. Many of the people who were referred to by Müller were in the audience, and the result was diarrhea that the new Burgtheater am Ring had never experienced before. Müller's play was only played in four performances up to October 29th, and Schlenther knew that his direction was finished.
Alfred Freiherr von Berger (March 1, 1910 to August 24, 1912): Schlenther was given a grace period of a few weeks, during which time a successor was sought. For this purpose, Alfred Freiherr v. Berger negotiated, who had worked as artistic secretary during the provisional management of Sonnenthal and had also proven himself as director of the Hamburg theater. Obersthofmeister Fürst Montenuovo, the general manager of the court theaters, was even prepared to allow Berger a dual direction Hamburg-Vienna, but this was not accepted by the Schauspiel AG Hamburg. There, however, Berger was accommodated and waived the one-year notice period. Thus Berger could officially take up his new office on March 1st, 1910, unofficially even on February 21st.
Berger reached several milestones, including Schnitzler's Der Junge Medardus , directed by Hugo Thimig. Schnitzler's Das weite Land was also given its Austrian premiere on October 14, 1912 (directed by Thimig). This production was shown 42 times up to January 26, 1919. There was also an exemplary performance of Hebbel's Herodes and Mariamne (premiered May 6, 1911), and another great success was Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse (premiered November 14, 1911 and on the program until May 23, 1922 in this production) . Berger had waited eleven years to become head of the Burg; and when he finally succeeded, it was almost too late, since he was already ailing.
The castle in the shadow of the First World War (1912–1918)
Hugo Thimig (September 1, 1912 to March 17, 1917): Obersthofmeister Fürst Montenuovo, the highest director of the court theaters, and Viktor Horsetzky Edler von Hornthal, director of the general directorate of the court theaters, made the decision to nominate Thimig as Berger's successor. In September 1912 Thimig was initially only provisional director, and on April 12, 1914, he was finally director of the Burgtheater.
Thimig's term of office was also affected by the closure of the theater after heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo . There were no performances from June 28th to June 30th. The beginning of the First World War fell during the theater holidays. Thimig negotiated with Prince Montenuovo about the reopening of the Burgtheater, with Emperor Franz Joseph advocating the now usual start of the season on September 1st. Nevertheless, the Burgtheater was not reopened until October 1, 1914.
A noticeable feature of Thimig's program was a Grillparzer cycle from February 1st to 10th, consisting of Sappho , the trilogy The Golden Fleece , King Ottokar's Luck and End , A Faithful Servant of His Lord , The Waves of the Sea and Love , Woe to him who lies , The dream of a life , The Jewess of Toledo and Esther .
The Burgtheater was also affected by the increasingly deteriorating supply situation in Vienna. In the end, an ordinance issued by the Viennese magistrate prohibited private coal dealers from delivering coal to Viennese theaters with a heavy fine. At the end of February 1917 there was then the risk that the Burgtheater would have to be closed. Ultimately, a large amount of firewood was delivered to the Burgtheater by the imperial court, which temporarily eased the situation. In addition, Thimig had to ensure that actors were released from military service, and material for the decoration and costume production had to be obtained with great effort. In 1916, Thimig turned to the Generalintendanz with the request to remove him from office and to appoint a successor. However, because there was no such thing in sight, Montenuovo declined Thimig's request.
After Franz Joseph's death, the chief steward of the young emperor Karl accepted Thimig's wish, who after 43 years of membership in the castle retired with the title of kuk Hofrat. In the last days of the Thimig era, the Burgtheater performed a guest performance in Zurich from April 2 to 4, 1917 with The Gate and Death , Esther , Literature , Interlude , The Devil of Woman and Resurrection .
Max von Millenkovich (April 10, 1917 to July 7, 1918), head of the arts section in the Ministry of Education and working as a poet under the name Morold , was quickly appointed as the new head of the castle. It was he who signed the contract with Alexander Girardi on June 27, 1917 . A few days later Girardi came to the house in his Zsupan costume and with a piglet under his arm, where Millenkovich welcomed him with open arms. Theo Zasche captured this scene in a watercolor.
Girardi played Fortunatus Wurzel in the first performance of Ferdinand Raimund's Der Bauer als Millionär at the Burgtheater (February 15, 1918, directed by Albert Heine ; this production was shown until February 29, 1936, with Ferdinand Maierhofer playing his role after Girardi's death). Girardi also took on the role of Weiring in Schnitzler's Liebelei (March 1, 1918, directed by Max Devrient ; this production was played until 1930 with changing casts in the Burgtheater as well as in the Akademietheater and Schlosstheater Schönbrunn ).
The fact that Millenkovich's term of office ended so quickly was due to the changing climate towards the end of the First World War. Emperor Karl tried to achieve peace and a change in the political and cultural coexistence of the peoples of the Danube monarchy, and the Burgtheater should also be involved. Millenkovich, who after his appointment had declared in a press conference that the “Christian-Germanic ideal of beauty gave him the standards”, had become intolerable.
College of Three (September 1 to October 31, 1918): The College of Three consisted of Hermann Bahr , Max Devrient and Robert Michel . Emperor Karl appointed Baron Leopold Andrian-Werburg as the new general manager, who in turn appointed the poet Hermann Bahr, the director and court actor Devrient and Major Michel. Bahr was to create the program, Devrient was responsible for casting and personnel issues, and Michel was to act as the extended arm of the general manager at the Burgtheater.
In this short era, the first considerations fell on adding the Akademietheater to the Burgtheater as a small house. Bahr was against it: in a letter to the general director on October 19, he spoke out in favor of using the Akademietheater - which he said was completely unsuitable as a chamber theater - as a studio and rehearsal stage and the Theater an der Wien as the small house of the Burgtheater to install.
Due to a flu epidemic , the Burgtheater was closed from October 21st to 31st, 1918. Thus ended the quorum era during a closed house. The end of the Danube Monarchy also sealed that of Andrian-Werburg's plans. The last premiere - at the same time the only one in the era of the Dreierkollegium - in the K. k. Hof-Burgtheater as well as at the time of the Habsburg monarchy was the Antigone des Sophocles on September 28, 1918 in the direction of Albert Heines, in the set by Alfred Roller and with Hedwig Bleibtreu in the title role.
Interwar Directorates I (1918–1930)
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Albert Heine (November 1, 1918 to January 31, 1921): The Austrian National Assembly and its organs, the State Council and the government, decided to take over the court theaters as state theaters in the administration of the new state without further negotiations or investigations. This became manifest in the changing name of the previous Hof-Burgtheater: First the double-headed eagle and the name k disappeared . k. from the program slips, and from December 3, 1918 onwards it was only called the Burgtheater . Albert Heine, who has been an actor and director at the Burgtheater since 1900 with interruptions, was nominated as director by the officials of the Generalintendanz. Hermann Bahr's secretary, Erhard Buschbeck , remained from the college of three , who would ensure the daily operation of the house on the Ring for 40 years. B. as head of the artistic office and deputy director.
The complicated circumstances of the time had an impact on the game operations, so there were only twelve performances in December 1918 due to a lack of coal and electricity, two of which were in the afternoon. In January 1919, performances were canceled every Monday and Tuesday. On February 20, the performance of the first French comedy of the season ( The Journey into the Blue by E. Cavaillet, de Flers and Rey, directed by Otto Tressler ) met with a crowd. Spectators asked for Austrian poets instead of French authors. Their opponents were appeased with the resumption of Karl Schönherrs Erde and Karnerleut . The journey into the blue remained on the program and was successfully shown 94 times in this production until March 9, 1930.
The Heine era brought about a major innovation, namely the introduction of programs. On November 28, 1919, the general director turned to the “German-Austrian State Notary's Office” with an application for the introduction of programs in the former court theaters. It is unclear, however, when exactly the first Burg program was published, but from then on they remained a permanent institution. Another innovation came about: on June 5, 1919, the first issue of the Burgtheater's papers appeared . In this theater newspaper published by Heine, advertising appearances for the first time. The sheets of the Burgtheater saw 12 numbers.
Like Schlenther, Heine wanted a small house for the Burgtheater. He remembered the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, which, however, required a targeted selection of plays with few actors and simple decorations. The festive opening of this theater took place on June 6, 1919. However, it soon became evident that the poor traffic conditions led to bad visitors. Political unrest - such as the storming of parliament on April 17, 1919, the coup of the Red Guard on June 15, or the farmers' march on June 29 unsettled the streets and impaired attendance at the theater. On July 21, the palace theater remained closed due to a general strike. From September 24th to 30th, 1919 the palace theater was closed due to the suspension of tram traffic.
From August 28th to 31st, Goethe's Iphigenie on Tauris was played in the afternoons and evenings in the Burgtheater as popular performances, organized by the Reich Education Office for the People's Armed Forces and workers' organizations. More and more often it came about that public organizations regularly bought up individual performances, namely as workers performances with the support of the municipality of Vienna , event of the Austrian public education office , event of the arts center for Christian popular education , presentation for workers, employees and student youth with the support of the municipality of Vienna or Event of the arts center of the education center .
As of November 25, 1919, the main seats in the galleries were closed and the quarter subscription to parquet seats was canceled. There were only 20 pieces left in the 1919/20 repertoire. Subscribers who had subscription rights for even and odd days were deprived of the right for one day. The vacant places were made accessible to the fluctuating public. From 16 to 17 and from 19 to 23 January 1920, the Burgtheater had to remain closed due to an official order due to a lack of coal. Heine resigned after two years in order to return to work as an actor and director at the castle. The reason for the resignation were Heine's negotiations with Max Reinhardt , who had been offered one or two productions per year. Reinhardt had agreed in principle, but did not want to leave his Berlin actors to their own devices for weeks and months. One possible solution would have been for Reinhardt to make a guest appearance in Vienna with a large part of his ensemble. This led to heated debates between the management and the ensemble and finally to the end of Heine's tenure.
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Anton Wildgans (February 1, 1921 to July 31, 1922): First director of Wildgans. After Heine's resignation, the head of the State Theater Administration, Dr. Adolf Vetter, looking for a successor. He was found in the poet Anton Wildgans, whose drama Poverty in the Volkstheater and whose tragedy Dies irae at the castle had success and who was known as a poet. The wild goose, who is not familiar with everyday life on stage, chose Max Paulsen as an employee. With Max Devrient, Hugo Thimig, Georg Reimers and Auguste Wilbrandt-Baudius, the first honorary members of the Burgtheater were appointed in the Wildgans management.
The Wildgans directorate came to an end when the legally educated man became involved in more and more legal subtleties. In a file war with the Burgtheater administration, there was a dispute over competencies and interpretations. Wildgans, who had the impression that he was a mere stooge of the administration, resigned.
Max Paulsen (August 1, 1922 to July 31, 1923): As many expected, Wildgans was followed by Paulsen, who had already made many decisions on his own. The general financial crisis forced them to be extremely frugal. The subsidies for the state theaters have been reduced. Nevertheless, Paulsen was able to incorporate the practice theater of the then Academy for Music and Performing Arts in the concert hall into the Burgtheater as a long-awaited little house. On September 8, 1922, the academy theater with Iphigenie on Tauris was opened. a. Hedwig Bleibtreu , Raoul Aslan and Franz Herterich .
The end of the short Paulsen management was related to a change in the management. Ministerialrat Renkin followed Vetter as head of the State Theater Administration. Similar to Wildgans, Paulsen had also fought for his competencies, Renkin saw in this an attempt to reduce the rights of his own office. Finally, Renkin ended Paulsen's direction.
Franz Herterich (August 1, 1923 to June 30, 1930): Minister of Education Dr. Schneider appointed the director and actor Franz Herterich as Paulsen's successor with the stipulation that Herterich should make the Burgtheater more effective, namely make better use of the large apparatus of soloists and technicians, offer more premieres and new productions, achieve an increase in the number of performances and all of this should happen while maintaining the repertoire theater principle. This could only be achieved by expanding the venues. The Great Hall of the Wiener Konzerthaus was designed for Calderons Über allen Zaubern Liebe (November 3, 1923, directed by Herterich, set design Remigius Geyling , musical direction by Alfred Rosé ) and for the Easter play by Klosterneuburg (April 14, 1924; directed by Herterich, set design by Geyling) used. Geyling based its stage designs on the Calderon baroque theater and created a two-part, Gothic stage decoration for the Easter play .
The Taming of the Shrew (directed by Heine, set designer Roller) was brought out in the Schönbrunn Palace Theater on June 14, 1924 as the beginning of a summer season. On October 1, 1924, Der Bürger came out in the Redoutensaal of the Hofburg as a nobleman after Molière by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and with the music of Richard Strauss as a joint venture by the Burgtheater and the opera theater (directed by Karl Zeska , conductor Richard Strauss; inter alia with Alma Seidler , Rosa Albach-Retty , Lilli Helletsgruber ). The performance, perceived as sensational, was intended to attract the paying audience, which was heavily advertised in these times of crisis. In addition, discounted tickets were given to theater communities; there were 90 closed performances for them every year. There were also heavily discounted closed performances for high school and middle school students.
Between November 23 and 28, 1925 there was an official federal state guest performance by the Burgtheater in Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck with Shakespeare's Hamlet and Bahr's Krampus . The political turmoil of the interwar period did not leave the Burgtheater entirely untouched: on July 15, 1927, as a result of the Justice Palace fire , the management decided to close the theater and to cancel the evening performance of Adam and Eve . On October 13, 1929, a memorial service for Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who died on July 15, took place in the Burgtheater. The symphonic poem Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss was performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Clemens Krauss . Stefan Zweig gave the commemorative speech. This was followed by a performance of Death and Death .
Towards the end of the Herterich era, signs of fatigue became noticeable. The director of the successful Volkstheater, Dr. Rudolf Beer turned to the Minister of Education through intermediaries and asked whether he was willing to lease the Burgtheater. Beer argued that doing so would save the state money. The proposal was strictly rejected, but it gave cause to reconsider the situation of the Burgtheater. General manager Dr. Franz Schneiderhan was advised to consider a change of direction, and a number of great actors from the castle called for Herterich to be recalled. At that time Anton Wildgans had given his famous speech about Austria during a lecture tour in Sweden . Education Minister Heinrich Srbik saw himself through his work for Austria abroad to see in the poet someone who could ensure a revival of the theater.
Interwar Directorates II (1930–1938)
Anton Wildgans (July 1, 1930 to December 31, 1931): The Wildgans second directorate was granted full independence, and they were also prepared to give him enough space for his literary work. In addition, Wildgans was guaranteed a pension regardless of the duration of his castle management.
In February 1931 two young actors and ambitious directors, Philipp Zeska and Karl Eidlitz , Wildgans proposed the establishment of a Burgtheater studio . Young members should have the opportunity to prove themselves there, but older, more famous people should also be able to join, if their time allowed. All members of the studio should take part in the necessary rehearsals free of charge and undertake to the management not to disrupt rehearsals in the house. Wildgans accepted the proposal, and the success of the first studio performances exceeded all expectations.
So finally came on April 8, 1931 in the Akademietheater Donaumont o. The homecoming of the soldier Odysseus by Eberhard W. Möller in Zeska's direction and the set by the painter Carry Hauser a . a. with Ewald Balser and Auguste Pünkösdy , other productions followed. On April 17, 1931, Director Wildgans celebrated his 50th birthday and he received speeches, awards and homage. But behind the scenes people were already looking for a successor for him, and when Wildgans found out about it, he bitterly said goodbye to the Burgtheater for a second and last time. Wildgans died on May 3, 1932, less than six months after the end of his second term.
Shortly before that, after a triumphant guest performance by the Burgtheater in Weimar , which had already been held under his successor Röbbeling , Wildgans wrote in Conclusions from Weimar with regard to the political critics of the Burgtheater: “You will have to tell them that the Burgtheater is not an issue that only concerns the Viennese and benefits them. Unfortunately, we no longer have so many things that could honor us Austrians in the world and gain sympathy. [...] And then one more thing: If in the future there should be some nagging about the high costs that the Burgtheater in particular causes, then one will have to respond energetically and unanimously that a stage like the Burgtheater is just as much an educational institution be, albeit with other means, such as universities and other colleges, of which one does not ask that they should maintain themselves or even generate profits. "
Hermann Röbbeling (January 1, 1932 to March 12, 1938): Emmerich Czermak , Srbik's successor as Minister of Education, wanted to prevent the public from speculating too early when discussing the question of succession, which could have devalued potential candidates. Outwardly, he was open to every suggestion and combination, but in fact he had a list of his favorites. The first position was taken by Hermann Röbbeling, who ran two Hamburg theaters as a private entrepreneur and who, despite the general theater crisis, managed to generate enough income. So Röbbeling succeeded writers and actors as head of the castle.
Röbbeling hired the academy professor Friedrich Rosenthal as dramaturge and director, brought the director Herbert Waniek to Vienna and hired Josef Gielen as first director. Röbbeling entrusted the young Otto Ludwig Preminger with a difficult Nestroy production, namely Das Haus der Temperamente . The critic and writer Ernst Lothar was invited to a production of Franz Grillparzer's Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg . The Burgtheater gave an enthusiastic guest performance on March 22, 1932 in Weimar with Goethe's Torquato Tasso (director Heine, set designer Stefan Hlawa ; Raoul Aslan in the title role), which was followed by performances in Klagenfurt (March 29) and Brno (April 4 ), Baden (April 19), Graz (May 30) and Innsbruck (June 16).
Röbbeling endeavored to anchor the Burgtheater in the public with all available possibilities and to conduct publicity. So he did not invite the press to the premieres, but to the dress rehearsals so that they could inform the audience in good time through reviews. Advertising and advertising were a matter of course, Röbbeling addressed the audience via radio and made sure that excerpts from Burg rehearsals were broadcast. Röbbeling negotiated a 25 percent fare reduction with the state transport company on presentation of a Burgtheater ticket. Guest performances in the federal states were intended to encourage visitors to attend the Viennese performances, guests from the federal states received a discount on their ticket. In return, the often heavily criticized awarding of free tickets (especially to civil servants) was severely restricted.
Röbbeling replaced the failure of some political public organizations by expanding the subscription system: with 15 subscription performances per season, he secured those works that did not promise to be successful due to any sensations. In this way he achieved quite high performance figures for classics and important modern authors and was also able to try out some pieces outside of the subscription and then, depending on their success, drop them again or offer them within the subscription. As part of a student subscription, there were afternoon performances with many works that corresponded to the curriculum of the upper middle school at the time. In the main building, Röbbeling saw the classics of world literature, with the Austrian classics being given special priority.
The number of subscribers and members of the theater community doubled in Röbbeling's first two seasons, although Austria was in dire straits, political turmoil and unemployment. Only Röbbeling's plan to set up a cycle of modern plays for the university youth did not materialize because, in view of the sometimes radical politicization of the students, it was feared that the performances could be used for political actions. Overall, Röbbeling succeeded in running the Burgtheater according to the commercial requirements of private theaters, rationalizing operations and establishing hectic rehearsals. Röbbeling also wanted to abolish the curtain ban: “The emperor's actors could more easily forego the applause than the actors of a republican country and a republican era. Everything has to be done to make the contact between the stage and the auditorium more intimate across the ramp. Today the Burgtheater does not have to advertise any less intensely than a private stage for the audience. ”With the actors, this plan met with split acceptance, Werner Krauss, for example, spoke out against it.
The circumstances of the time, such as the intensifying partnership between Austria and Italy , made themselves felt, albeit only very gently, in the Burgtheater's repertoire: for example, the Napoleon drama Hundred Days by Benito Mussolini and Giovacchino Forzano was performed in the large house (premiere on 22 April 1933; directed by Röbbeling, set design by Geyling; with Krauss as Napoleon) and shown at a festive performance in view of the visit of the royal Italian Undersecretary of State Fulvio Suvich on January 19, 1934. The last Schnitzler production at the Burgtheater before the Nazi era, in which this author was not allowed to be played, took place on October 11, 1935: Comedy of Words (directed by Herterich, set design by Willi Bahner ; with Balser in three leading roles).
Röbbeling himself staged George Bernard Shaw's Die Heilige Johanna on October 24, 1936 (set by Emil Pirchan ; with Paula Wessely as Johanna and Hermann Thimig as Dauphin). Hofmannsthals The Salzburg World Theater was redesigned on May 30th, 1937 in the direction and set design by Raoul Aslan, while the supporting role of Vorwitz was played by the soon-to-be emigrant and later castle director Ernst Haeusserman . By Ferenc Molnár they played Delilah (Premiere on Dec. 1, 1937, directed Waniek, Stage Hlawa played until March 6, 1938). As part of the series "Voices of the Nations in Drama", the 12th evening was dedicated to America:
The premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Trauer muss Elektra took place on February 11, 1938 (directed and edited by Josef Gielen , set by Pirchan). This production could be shown until March 7, 1938 and saw 9 performances. The last premieres before the invasion of the German Wehrmacht and the annexation of Austria to National Socialist Germany were: Molière's The Imaginary Sick and The Miser in the Burgtheater on February 26th (director Rott, stage design and costumes Hlawa) and Eugène Scribes The Three Maupins in the Akademietheater on March 5, 1938 (Eidlitz direction, set and costumes Hlawa).
Anschluss and World War II (1938–1945)
Mirko Jelusich (March 13, 1938 to July 6, 1938): The writer and critic of the German-Austrian daily Jelusich acted as provisional director after the Anschluss until the definitive director was appointed in Berlin. The very first premiere, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (with Krauss in the title role and Aslan as Marcus Antonius), was an irony of history when this production was still being prepared by an emigrant from Germany: Carl Ebert , a staunch Social Democrat who on March 15, 1933, as director of the Städtische Oper Berlin had been dismissed without notice and had since worked in Glyndebourne , at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires , at the Maggio Musicale in Florence and at the Salzburg Festival . Ebert's name was on the program, and it was symbolic of everything that would no longer be possible in the next 7 years in Austria, which would soon be erased from the map.
As early as April 20, a “festival performance for the Führer’s birthday” took place in the Burgtheater: the resumption of the production of Wilhelm Tell by Josef Gielen, who would also soon emigrate. As a prologue, Ewald Balser spoke hymn to the return of Josef Weinheber . The academy theater underwent a renovation that was supposed to be completed by August 31, 1938, but was not finished until January 24, 1939. From June 13th to 20th, the “V. Reichs-Theaterfestwoche “takes place in Vienna. The Staatliche Schauspiele Berlin performed Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Burgtheater (director Müthel, set design Rochus Gliese ; with Gründgens as Hamlet; June 13th). On June 14th, the Burgtheater contributed a new production of Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen with an iron hand (directed by Herterich; stage design and costumes based on designs by the long deceased Alfred Roller; Balser as Götz). On June 17, the Deutsches Theater in Berlin showed a performance of Shakespeare's Der Sturm (directed by Erich Engel , set by Caspar Neher ).
Ulrich Bettac (August 23, 1938 to April 30, 1939): Bettac, who was engaged as a director at the Burgtheater, was the provisional director . Before that, Berlin had decided on the management question: First, Gustaf Gründgens had been thought of, but he evaded this assignment. Then you came across Lothar Müthel, who on the one hand seemed loyal to the line and on the other had been a member of Reinhardt's ensemble. With the nomination of Müthel, Jelusich's task was over. But Müthel suffered a car accident, which is why an interim solution had to be found again. Fred Hennings declined the offer, and finally Bettac accepted. In September 1938 the castle made a guest appearance in Pressburg with Scribes Ein Glas Wasser and Juliane Kays Charlotte Ackermann .
On April 2, an instruction was issued for the director of the Burgtheater. It states, among other things: “The director of the Burgtheater is responsible for the artistic and administrative management of the institute. He is considered to be the manager of the company within the meaning of the Law on the Order of National Work in Public Administrations and Companies of March 23, 1934. In exercising artistic direction, the director is basically independent and only responsible to the Reich Governor in Austria. [...] The director reports directly to the Reich governor in Austria. The official dealings with the Reich Governor, if not immediately necessary and possible, are carried out by the head of Department III of the Reich Governor's office and, on his behalf, by the head of the State Theater Administration. All contracts concluded by the management as well as all orders of fundamental and far-reaching importance require the approval of the Reich Governor, which the State Theater Administration is responsible for obtaining. "On April 20, 1939 there was a" celebratory performance on the occasion of the 50th birthday of our Führer Adolf Hitler " . They gave a GB Shaw comedy called You Never Know .
Lothar Müthel (May 1, 1939 to April 30, 1945): Müthel did not take over his management until the end of the period for which he was appointed. This results in the overlap with the following management of Raoul Aslan, which began in an already liberated Vienna. Müthel provided a program that consisted largely of German classics. But works by Grillparzer and Shaw were also performed. The French social comedies previously popular in Vienna had completely disappeared from the program.
Many productions came from directors who had already worked at the Burgtheater before March 1938, such as Raoul Aslan, Herbert Waniek, Ulrich Bettac, Philipp Zeska or Adolf Rott and, initially, Josef Gielen. Guest directors from the German Reich were only invited occasionally, including Karlheinz Stroux and Paul Riedy . In addition, Müthel himself staged regularly. Familiar names such as Stefan Hlawa, Emil Pirchan, Fritz Judtmann , Rochus Gliese could also be found among the set designers . Those directors who set the tone in Berlin, for example, including Gustaf Gründgens and Jürgen Fehling , were only present in Vienna through guest performances by their theaters. A sharp aesthetic break was therefore not detectable, the changes appeared moderate. Propaganda pieces or performances were kept away from the Burgtheater.
The Burgtheater partly retained its independent aesthetic, although the names Schnitzler and Hofmannsthal - which were important for this theater - were no longer available. From an aesthetic point of view, the Burgtheater came to a standstill, and attempts to innovate, such as those made by earlier directors, did not take place. From June 5 to 11, 1939 the “VI. Reichs-Theaterfestwoche ”, to which Schiller's castle Maria Stuart (director Müthel, set Gliese) contributed. The guest performances included Fehling's production of Shakespeare's King Richard the Second (set by Traugott Müller ; with Gründgens) and Hilpert's Faust I director with Balser in the title role. The Burgtheater showed Nestroy's A Joke he wants to make himself (premiere June 9, 1939; directed by Waniek, stage Hlawa).
Between September 1939 and April 1944, the Burgtheater performed a play in Pressburg several times per season. The castle made a guest appearance in Prague on May 8, 1940 and in Cologne in January 1943 . For the 150th birthday of Grillparzer, the City of Vienna organized a “Grillparzer Week” in January 1941, in which all Viennese theaters and German theaters took part through guest performances. The castle played among others: Die Ahnfrau (premiere January 15; directed by Stroux; stage and costumes Hlawa; this production was resumed after the war at the Ronacher) and Libussa (directed by Müthel, stage and costumes by César Klein ). The following academy theater productions were also played well into the aftermath of the World War: Zeska's staging of Bahr's Das Prinzip (premiere September 6, 1941; stage and costumes Judtmann) was until the beginning of 1946, and Rott's staging of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler until the end of May 1946 (Premiere December 9, 1941), even until May 1953, Bettac directed August Kotzebue's Die Zwei Klingsberg (premiere October 4, 1941), and at least until the beginning of 1947 Rott's production of Curt Goetz 's Der Lügner und die Nun (premiere June 27, 1942 ).
In contrast, the running time of Müthel's production of Grillparzer's Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg (premiere December 6, 1941, last performance January 31, 1942) was extremely short . The running time of Werner Krauss 'later infamous performance of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (directed by Müthel, set design by Herta Böhm , costumes by Charlotte Flemming ), which premiered on May 15, 1943, was also only very short, because of the depiction of Werner Krauss' uninhibited Jewish clichés last played on June 25th.
From June 4, 1942, the theater bills contained the following note: “Keep calm in the event of an air raid! Provision has been made to ensure that all visitors can find space in the air raid shelters. Note the direction arrows! Leave the seats without haste and obey all orders of the air protection authorities! The cloakroom will only be issued after the all-clear! "
From November 15 to 22, 1942, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of the poet, “Gerhart Hauptmann Days” took place in the Burgtheater, in which Gerhart Hauptmann himself took part. There were two new productions by Elga and Florian Geyer . From mid-1943 onwards, director Müthel was forced to reduce the number of premieres due to increasing material shortages. While there were 22 premieres in 1938/39, 17 in 1942/43 and only 12 premieres in 1943/44.
In the summer of 1944 the closure of the Burgtheater and the Akademietheater was ordered. The last premiere was on June 28th, Hebbel's Gyges und seine Ring (directed by Rott, stage Hlawa, costumes Flemming), and this production was also shown at the last performance two days later. There were a number of reading evenings between October 14th and December 26th. Between January 6 and 28, 1945, nine performances of The Two Klingsberg took place. On February 1, the following was noted in the repertory: “Closed because the government has confiscated the heating supplies from the Burgtheater.” During the management of Müthels, a number of actors came to the Burgtheater for the first time, who would later shape the profile of this house and not politically had corrupted. These were Paul Hörbiger , Curd Jürgens , Susi Nicoletti , Theo Lingen , Oskar Werner .
Alternative accommodation at Ronacher (1945–1954)
Raoul Aslan (April 20, 1945 to March 7, 1948): Aslan, who was popular in Vienna, was the first and, to date, last Burg director to initially take on this position without any special assignment. A handful of actors from the castle who remained in Vienna had gathered around him, and he had taken over the direction and was later confirmed in it by the Soviets. The Burgtheater was not available as a venue because the stage, the auditorium and parts of the foyer and cloakrooms fell victim to a fire on April 12th. First rehearsals in the Theater an der Wien showed that considerable renovation work would have had to take place there, and it had already been designated as a substitute for the State Opera. The Volkstheater was out of the question due to unexplained leases, and so Aslan concluded a lease with the owner of the Ronacher establishment after days of meetings and many visits to the authorities .
It was inadequately prepared for this new task: the lighting options were primitive, the cloakrooms modest, the acoustics in some places very poor, there were no rehearsal rooms, and the auditorium was not very suitable for classical dramas, but was intended for variety performances been. The roof was leaking and the electricity kept cutting out. The actors walked to the rehearsal and also returned home after the performance. Many costumes were missing and materials were difficult to get hold of. Nevertheless, they managed to organize the first Burgtheater performance in liberated Vienna on April 30, 1945: Grillparzer's Sappho in front of a black velvet background, because the set was burned. Because stand rights existed from 8 p.m., the performance began at 5.30 p.m. Already after 10 minutes it had to be interrupted because the Soviet Marshal Tolbuchin arrived late and because of him the work started all over again.
Before the performance, Aslan gave a speech in which he implored, among other things, what had receded into the background since March 1938: “Here, close to the place where the great Burgtheater director Heinrich Laube founded the Vienna City Theater over 70 years ago the heart of Vienna, the Burgtheater will open its place of work for the near future. Again as the Austrian state theater, true to its glorious tradition. [...] We hope to be able to remain what the Burgtheater was: a theater of actors and actresses, united to form a permanent ensemble through our artistic will. The personality wants to be able to develop freely, but it also wants to be properly used again in the place that it is entitled to thanks to the gifts that have been given to it. It is bound by style and custom, tradition, culture and landscape, but unbound by the spirit that works through it. His flame is visible to everyone, it is international and not limited by time. "
A Hofmannsthal play could already be performed for the first time on June 13th: Jedermann (director Müthel, stage and costumes Judtmann; with Aslan and later Balser as Jedermann; this performance was shown in 130 performances until April 30, 1955). From May 19, 1945, the Akademietheater began to play again, and at the end of September Oscar Fritz Schuh produced Scribes The Glass of Water in the Redoutensaal. This performance appeared in 1946 in Bregenz , Basel , Zurich , Lucerne and Bern . Paul Hörbiger was the main actor in Molnár's Liliom on September 22nd (director Zeska, set and costumes Erni Kniepert), who had 52 performances up to January 7th, 1946.
Lessing's Nathan the Wise (director Müthel, stage and costumes Pirchan; Aslan as Nathan) premiered on December 20th . The production was shown 90 times by the beginning of 1958, including guest performances in Zurich in 1946 and in Holland in 1954 . OW Fischer played Oswald in Ibsen's Gespenster (premiere March 4, 1946, Akademietheater) and Anatol in the performance that again anchored Arthur Schnitzler in the Burg repertoire: Christmas Shopping (premiere March 9, 1946, directed by Eidlitz; with Käthe Dorsch as Gabriele ). Schnitzler's Liebelei was performed that same evening (with Ferdinand Maierhofer as Weiring, Alma Seidler as Christine, Tonio Riedl - Aslan's private partner - as Fritz Lobheimer and Fischer as master). One of the main tasks of the Burgtheater was the revival of three traditions that had been interrupted in 1938: the resumption of plays by authors who had been banned, the reinstatement of members who were once considered intolerable and the reintroduction of closed performances for the “Theater of Youth”; on March 23, 1946 there was the first closed performance there with Cabal and Love .
Erhard Buschbeck (March 8 to October 15, 1948): The Burg Dramaturg Buschbeck acted as provisional director. For his longstanding service he was made an honorary member in 1949.
Josef Gielen (October 16, 1948 to June 25, 1954)
The reopened Burgtheater (1954–1971)
- Adolf Rott (September 1, 1954 to August 31, 1959)
- Ernst Haeusserman (September 1, 1959 to August 31, 1968)
- Paul Hoffmann (September 1, 1968 to August 31, 1971)
Klingenberg and Benning Directorates (1971–1986)
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Gerhard Klingenberg : appointed Director from September 1972 to June 1977 by Minister Leopold Gratz in 1970 ; in office since 1971/1972 on an interim basis after Hoffmann's withdrawal; from September 1, 1972 to August 31, 1976; terminated his contract after his successor was nominated in 1975. During his time as director, Klingenberg opened the Burgtheater to important European directors and new theater aesthetics. No other spoken theater in Europe had a comparable range of visual styles and prominent directors at that time.
In February 1972, Jean-Paul Roussillon staged The Lady of Maxim by Georges Feydeau (set design, costumes: Jacques Le Marquet ; with Rudolf Wessely , Fred Liewehr , Alfred Balthoff , Jane Tilden and others), in November Der Geizige von Molière (set design, costumes: Le Marquet; with Achim Benning as Harpagon) and in October 1975 two more works by Molière ( Impromptu von Versailles , Georges Dandin ); Stage design, costumes: Le Marquet). In March 1972, Dieter Dorn worked for the first time in the Akademietheater for To Celebrate the Day by David Storey (stage design, costumes: John Gunter ; with Werner Hinz , Alma Seidler , Alexander Trojan , Wolfgang Gasser and others). In the same month Rudolf Steinboeck staged All My Sons by Arthur Miller in the Akademietheater (set design: Lois Egg ). For Christopher Marlowe . Edward II came Konrad Swinarski Burgtheater (sets, costumes: John Moore, Veniero Colasanti , with Peter Arens in the title role). Peter Hall staged in June 1972 Old Times by Harold Pinter with Erika Pluhar and Maximilian Schell and Annemarie Düringer .
In January 1973 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was the director and set designer of Alfred de Mussets Man Not Playing with Love at the Akademietheater (with Paul Hoffmann, Michael Heltau, Paul Hörbiger and others). Judith Holzmeister repeated her premiere role in Thomas Bernhard's Ein Fest für Boris in February 1973 under the direction of Erwin Axer (stage design, costumes: Ewa Starowieyska ; also with Bruno Dallansky ). A dramatization of Voltaire's Candide was staged in September 1972 by Roberto Guicciardini (set design, costumes: Lorenzo Ghiglia ), who designed The Beautiful Green Bird after Carlo Gozzi in December 1973 (set design, costumes: Ghiglia; with Bibiana Zeller , Cornelia Froboess , Dorothea Neff among others).
In February 1973 Jean-Louis Barrault directed Der Bürger als Edelmann von Molière with Josef Meinrad (set and costumes: Pace). Luca Ronconi developed a cycle of antiquities from Euripides ' Die Bakchen (set and costumes: Pier Luigi Pizzi ; June 1973; with Norbert Kappen , Ewald Balser , Judith Holzmeister , Joachim Bissmeier and others), Aristophanes ' Die Vögel (set and costumes: Luciano Damiani , April 1975; with Wolfgang Gasser , Alma Seidler and others) as well as Aeschylus ' Orestie in two parts (set and costumes: Damiani, March 1976; with Holzmeister, Gasser, Kappen, Bissmeier, Düringer, Hilde Krahl and others). Walter Felsenstein returned to his hometown and to the Burgtheater to perform Kleist's Das Käthchen von Heilbronn (stage design, costumes: Rudolf Heinrich ; January 1974) and Goethe's Torquato Tasso (stage design, costumes: Andreas Reinhardt ; June 1975; with Bissmeier, Boysen, Düringer and others ) to stage.
Otto Schenk presented his much-praised performance of Horváth's Tales from the Vienna Woods (set design: Günther Schneider-Siemssen , costumes: Hill Reihs-Gromes ; with Wolfgang Hübsch as Alfred, Adrienne Gessner as grandmother, Jane Tilden as Valerie, Heinrich Schweiger as Oskar , Karl Paryla as the magical king, Gertraud Jesserer as Marianne, Fred Liewehr as Rittmeister and others). Schenk was also responsible for the Akademietheater staging of Chekhov's Three Sisters in June 1976 (set design: Rolf Glittenberg , costumes: Silvia Strahammer ).
Claus Peymann designed the world premiere - the first by this author at the Burgtheater - of Thomas Bernhard's Die Jagdgesellschaft (stage design and costumes: Karl-Ernst Herrmann ; with Holzmeister, Bissmeier, Werner Hinz and others). Giorgio Strehler staged Carlo Goldoni's trilogy of summer freshness in November 1974 (stage design and costumes: Ezio Frigerio , costume assistant: Franca Squarciapino ; with Michael Heltau , Susi Nicoletti and others) and in November 1975 The Game of the Mighty based on Shakespeare's royal dramas (stage design and costumes: Paolo Bregniapino ; with Heltau, Andrea Jonasson , Rolf Boysen and others). Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča , who in 1976 brought out the last Burg production of Goethe's Faust with Rolf Boysen in the title role and Heinz Reincke as Mephistopheles.
Achim Benning (September 1, 1976 to August 31, 1986) gave world premieres by authors such as Václav Havel , Martin Walser and Klaus Pohl ; new directors such as Dieter Dorn , Peter Wood , Adolf Dresen , Benno Besson , Erwin Axer , Thomas Langhoff , Armand Gatti , Jérôme Savary , Dieter Berner , Johannes Schaaf , Peter Palitzsch or Angelika Hurwicz as well as Horst Zankl and Hans Hollmann came ; the Austrian directors Zankl and Hollmann ensured that the plays by Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy were initially controversial ; numerous productions by various directors focused on the work of Anton Chekhov and Arthur Schnitzler .
Management Claus Peymann (1986–1999)
Claus Peymann (September 1, 1986 to August 31, 1999) was able to consolidate the reputation of the theater as one of the major theaters in Europe with numerous premieres by Thomas Bernhard , Elfriede Jelinek , Peter Handke , Peter Turrini and George Tabori . In his era, directors such as Einar Schleef , Peter Zadek , Ruth Berghaus , Mathias Langhoff , Manfred Karge , Alfred Kirchner , Michael Haneke , Cesare Lievi , Achim Freyer , Dieter Giesing , Niels-Peter Rudolph as well as Tabori and once again Strehler, who returned from the castle ( The Giants from the Mountains by Luigi Pirandello with Andrea Jonasson and Michael Heltau ; set design: Frigerio, costumes: Franca Squarciapino ; 1994). With Peymann, a few actors joined the ensemble who soon rose to become audience favorites, such as Gert Voss and Kirsten Dene . Other actors who had long been part of the Burg Ensemble were critical of Peymann's management. Fritz Muliar repeatedly opposed Peymann in public and finally retired, Heinz Reincke ended his work at the Burg before Peymann took office. Over time, however, the old ensemble grew more and more together with the new members. Peymann was dissatisfied with some Burg conventions and changed them. So he abolished the rule according to which actors working at the Burgtheater who were engaged there for more than ten years could not be dismissed (the so-called ten-year clause ). Now this is only the case after 15 years. In addition, Peymann ended the custom of issuing so-called filling cards : numerous admission tickets were given free of charge to ministries and other public services in order to fill the auditorium.
Management Klaus Bachler (1999–2009)
Part of Klaus Bachler's concept (from September 1, 1999) was to offer a diverse program in which everything from Nestroy to classics to performance art has space. When he took office, external changes were also introduced to the house. B. is no longer announced on the facade, but next to the house on a red board. The programs were designed individually, in contrast to the older programs, which were always beige in color. In May 2005, Bachler announced that he would not extend his contract beyond 2009, although he will also serve as artistic director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 2008 , thus filling both positions for a year. In his early days, Bachler brought in numerous European directors, including Declan Donnellan and Silviu Purcarete , but soon he engaged the directors emerging in Germany, such as Dimiter Gotscheff , Andreas Kriegenburg , René Pollesch , Christiane Pohle . Andrea Breth , who had already made her debut at the Burgtheater under Peymann with Heinrich von Kleist's Der zerbrochne Krug , became the Burgtheater's in-house director and provided numerous productions that were often critically acclaimed. Thomas Langhoff, who was already working in the Benning direction at the Burgtheater, returned to the Burgtheater under Bachler, where he staged, among other things: Elisabeth II by Thomas Bernhard and - after Breth's rejection - will take care of a new production of Wallenstein . Dieter Giesing, who was already active at the Burgtheater under Benning and Peymann, was also brought in for directorial work under Bachler.
Hartmann Directorate (2009-2014)
In 2006 an invitation to tender was issued to find the next castle director from the 2009/2010 season. As announced in the spring of 2006 by the then state secretary for culture and the castle actor on leave , Matthias Hartmann , the director of the Zurich theater at the time , was designated as the new director of the Burgtheater. He directed the Burgtheater from September 2009 to March 2014.
Bergmann Directorate (2014–2019)
In March 2014 Karin Bergmann became interim director of the Burgtheater. She started her job with two negative decisions; The almost completed production of her predecessor Matthias Hartmann's The Wrong Film , withdrew it, and the director for The Last Days of Mankind , a co-production with the Salzburg Festival , withdrew it from him and transferred it to Georg Schmiedleitner . She implemented a number of austerity measures and tried to calm the ensemble . All of this to the delight of the press and the responsible minister, who definitely ordered it in October 2014 for five seasons (until the end of June 2019). In her inaugural press conference they announced three major projects: a new Everyman , a staged version of Divine Comedy and Die Nibelungen by Friedrich Hebbel .
swell
- ↑ Quoted from the Austrian Federal Theater Association (Hrsg.): Burgtheater 1776–1976. Performances and casts spanning two hundred years. Volume 1, pp. 543-544.
- ↑ Quotation from ibid., P. 560.
- ↑ Quotation from ibid., Pp. 601–602.
- ↑ Quotation from ibid., P. 619.
- ↑ Quotation from ibid., P. 627.
- ↑ Quotation from ibid., P. 630.
- ^ Burgtheater: Minister of Culture removes Hartmann from office. In: derStandard.at . March 11, 2014, accessed March 21, 2014 .