Mülheim an der Ruhr open-air theater
The Mülheim an der Ruhr open-air theater has been an open-air theater in Mülheim an der Ruhr that has existed since 1936 .
With 2,000 seats, the facility is one of the largest natural stages in Germany and the most important of its kind in the Rhine-Ruhr region .
location
The open-air stage is only a few hundred meters south of the church hill . Right next to the old town cemetery, the audience opens in a former quarry. The stage is embedded in a park close to the city, which is freely accessible outside of the event times.
history
In the early 1930s, the director of the garden department, Fritz Keßler, was looking for a way to save the area of the former Döring quarry from the fate of becoming a landfill for building rubble and household waste. Keßler had a green area in mind, for which the city budget - Mülheim also suffered from the global economic crisis - was insufficient. As a job creation measure , this project could finally be carried out inexpensively with the help of the voluntary labor service : Instead of the original 29,800 Reichsmarks , the city of Mülheim only had to raise 14,100 RM. State funding expired in mid-May 1933, and the systems remained half-finished. At the insistence of Keßler, at least the paths were still completed - by municipal welfare recipients, who received a supplement to their monthly support.
In the same year, work on the green spaces - expanded to include the construction of an open-air stage - was continued by the Reich Labor Service . The Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte donated 400 sacks of cement, the RWW laid a water pipe and the carpentry of the gardening office helped with the woodwork and also provided the chief planner with Chief Inspector Erich Schulzke. The green space was opened to the public three years later: on June 28, 1936 - a summer Sunday evening - the open-air stage was inaugurated with Shakespeare's Midsummer Night 's Dream . The demand for tickets for almost 3,000 seats was enormous, and a repeat was scheduled for the following evening.
The war that began in 1939 ended the events for the time being and left its mark. A bunker carved into the rock served the residents as a refuge and the Evangelical Hospital as a military hospital . The wooden benches on the stage were torn down by the needy population and used as fuel. After the end of the war, the damage was gradually repaired. The reopening on June 30, 1954 with Bizet's opera Carmen was followed by an extensive program from 1954 to 1965 with a total of 56 operas, operettas and drama performances. Then it became quiet around the open-air theater. In the summer of 1971, when the Karl May Festival took place in Mülheim for the first and only time , the facility on the Dimbeck experienced another renaissance with the secret of the bonanza, only to then fall into a long slumber again.
Current program
After long discussions about the program and usage in 2000 between the newly founded association of friends of the European open-air theater in Mülheim, the city and the other cultural institutions, it was decided that the open-air theater should become a venue for young and old with a variety of events. The spectrum should range from pop, jazz and classical music to theater and comedy.
In 2003, the Association for Regulator Production was added and has since been responsible for numerous events on the small stage.
In 2006 the area was upgraded by improving the infrastructure (fixed catering facilities, improvement of the small stage by sponsors, etc.) before the start of the season. In addition to the events on the big stage ( Oldie Night, Irish Folk Festival), a much larger audience was successfully addressed through events as part of the soccer World Cup .
In 2007, the regulator production intensified the work with the Twistzentrale, which brought in the idea of making the events on the small stage more extensive, every Wednesday, acoustically and free of admission. So 21 dates and 4 additional dates were created according to this principle on the small stage called Sunset Folks. The realization was made possible by approx. 12 volunteer employees, coming from the Twist headquarters and the controller production. The small profits that were made through catering and sponsoring were used exclusively for optimizing the stage, lighting and other equipment. The bands got their fees through voluntary donations from the audience.
The year 2008 was a breakthrough for the Sunset Folks event series. Before the start of the season, the area was again optimized (stage, extensive earthmoving, cocktail and information stand). This year around 10,000 visitors were reached by Sunset Folks and other events of the regulator production. In addition, the regulator production took part in events organized by the Friends of the Open-Air Theater Association. For financial reasons, it was not possible to use the big stage this year.
In 2009 the name of the main operator of the open-air theater was given by the Association of Friends of the European Open-Air Theater in Mülheim an der Ruhr e. V. in Friends of the Freilichtbühne Mülheim an der Ruhr e. V. changed.
Since 2010, the now non-profit association Regulator Production has continued the concept of “culture out of the hat” in the open-air stage on its own. Further event brands were created and cooperation with other culturally active associations and institutions expanded.
Since 2012, the association Regulator Production, together with the Mülheimer Kulturbetrieb, the Theater an der Ruhr , the Ringlokschuppen and the Office for Children, Youth and School, has been part of the organizing community of the Mülheimer Ruhrsommers.
Web links
- Website of the Friends of the Mülheim Open Air Theater
- City of Mülheim: The open-air stage
- Mülheimer Zeitzeichen: Historical review of the inauguration in 1936
Coordinates: 51 ° 25 ′ 21 ″ N , 6 ° 53 ′ 8 ″ E