Tecklenburg open-air theater
The Tecklenburg open-air theater , with more than 2,300 seats, is the largest open-air music theater in Germany. The stage is located in the ruins of Tecklenburg Castle . Plays , operas , operettas , musicals and other musical events have been performed there since 1924 .
history
Beginnings
On July 20, 1924, a play with Wilhelm Tell by Friedrich Schiller was staged for the first time in the castle ruins , which began the history of the Tecklenburg Open-Air Theater, then called the Tecklenburg German Homeland Games . The first performances took place there under the direction of Konrad Maria Krug from Münster and his play group. According to prevailing local patriotism, most of the protagonists of the plays should be Tecklenburger. The Lengerich teacher Karl Scheidt had written four scenes from the Tecklenburg story under the title A Dream of Countess Thekla and the belief that they were fulfilling a patriotic task inspired the residents of Tecklenburg. The citizens of the city did their best. “Clouded by little expertise and without being sick of paleness, you went to the big company! Lo and behold, it succeeded! ”( Marga Wiskott (1894–1975) ) wrote the actress of Krimhild in the Nibelungen in 1925.
A board of directors was elected, sub-committees for play, press, transport, space and finance were formed, and Dr. Jug. 23 personalities - 15 from the Tecklenburg district and 8 from the region could be won. With this the were upper president of the province of Westphalia , the state governor , the district president of Munster , the president of the university college, the military district commander, the railroad president, mayor of the city of Münster and the rector of the University of Muenster . In addition, a brochure contained a foreword by the district president, a foreword by the district administrator, the contents and list of the actors and timetables for special trains between Lengerich and Ibbenbüren as well as between Münster or Osnabrück and Tecklenburg and back. It was also possible to put together special trains from contiguous areas with at least 600 visitors. In addition to Tecklenburg, there were also advance booking offices in Münster, Osnabrück and Rheine .
Reconstruction of the site and upheaval during the National Socialist era
In the years 1926 to 1933 the stage was not used as such for economic reasons. But the desire to continue the work begun in 1924 remained unbroken. After the wooden stand was demolished, it looked like it did before the first games, a meadow with remains of ruins. In the time of National Socialism , a "Reichsbund der Deutschen Freilicht- und Volksschauspiele" was created, which was supposed to set up " Thingstätten in theater form" everywhere . But this could not give the Tecklenburg people any financial support. Wilhelm Strübbe (1898–1984), one of the founding members from 1924, provided a large part of the funds from his personal assets in 1934 and had the venue expanded by 70 emergency workers and fifty men from the “Voluntary Labor Service” founded in 1932. Under the direction of Erich Kempgens from Münster, the courtyard was redesigned in such a way that the Tecklenburg is today the largest open-air theater in Germany. Work began on March 24, 1934. Around 3,000 cubic meters of earth were moved to create a rising auditorium, the actual stage and a play pool (orchestra) between the two. A count's well that had been buried for almost 200 years was discovered and incorporated into the interior design.
On May 15, 1934, the "Landesstelle Westfalen-Lippe" of the " Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda " issued an announcement according to which theatrical performances in the open air had to be registered. Precise information about the organizer, legal entity, place, match days, number of performances and the works had to be given. In addition, it had to be stated how many professional actors were employed. Then it was decided whether the performances were allowed. Furthermore, the construction of thing sites had to be done exclusively by the "voluntary labor service". The allocation was made to the municipalities by the "Landesstelle" in agreement with the " Gauleiter ". The "Reichsbund" was responsible for carrying out the building programs. In order not to jeopardize the project that had already started in March, it was necessary to “come to terms”, because “Thingstätten” were not allowed to organize theater performances in the open air without the consent of the “Landesstelle”. The “regime” got involved in the project and used it for propaganda purposes. Before the performance began on June 24, 1934, after being welcomed by the district administrator as the organizer, the only person who spoke was the "Landesstelleleiter Schmidt". The press commented on the speech “If I gave the suggestion to make this place into the 'Landesthingplatz', I did it because it is meant for our Führer. We owe it to our guide if we made this historical place useful for the purpose of the open-air theater . Start! "( State Office Manager Schmidt ) with" [...] Holy fanaticism glows in his eyes. Hitler soldier from head to toe! "( Press )
Later, the inscription was carved into the plate of a stone table belonging to the stage decoration that “Young Team of the Nazi Labor Service” (meaning the “ Reich Labor Service ” legally established on June 26, 1935 ) - “created this open-air stage.” At the suggestion of the “ Landesstelle "the city of Tecklenburg appeared as" legal entity ", the new name: Open-air plays of the city of Tecklenburg In 1935 the performances" October 18th - Battle of the Nations near Leipzig "and" A Game of Fatherland and Freedom "were performed on the" Open Air Theater Tecklenburg ", Premiere on June 16, 1935, 3 p.m. - announced. The zeitgeist and political influences were decisive for the choice of this piece . From 1935 to 1938 the operetta “ Der Zigeunerbaron ” and the plays “ Götz von Berlichingen with the iron hand ” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Schiller's “ Wallenstein ” were performed. Thereafter, gaming operations were suspended until after the Second World War.
post war period
The Second World War also left its mark on Tecklenburg. Not only did the site suffer from bombings, there were also many war casualties from among those involved in the open-air games. Soon the area was made usable again and a corresponding ensemble of various theaters in the surrounding cities, whose premises had been destroyed in the war, was put together. The stage was reorganized under the name "Freilichtspiele der Stadt Tecklenburg". The first piece, the operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda , was performed on August 25 and September 1, 1946. On September 8th, the comedy Im Weisse Rössl by Oskar Blumenthal and Gustav Kadelburg followed , a performance by the Münster Municipal Theaters with Ruth Leuwerik as Klärchen, and on September 22nd, a major operetta concert by the North German Volkstheater Münster concluded this season. In the following years, gaming operations were resumed. Plays such as The Robbers and Wilhelm Tell von Schiller, the operettas Countess Mariza and The Bird Trader , as well as the fairy tale play Puss in Boots were on the program. Various operas were also performed, such as in 1960 Martha with Gerd Nienstedt as Plumkett or in 1963 Cavalleria rusticana and Der Bajazzo with Helge Rosvaenge as Canio .
Foundation of the association “Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg e. V. "
In Weißenburg, the artistic director Schmid had the reputation of a “brilliant” - in financial matters “a bit generous organizer” and was unable to save the current season with additional new productions. In this way he generated a deficit that the city of Tecklenburg had to cover as a legal entity and which, accustomed to the fact that the stage generated surpluses, ended the "legal entity". A group of men who were interested in the continuation of the stage wanted to make the stage independent by founding a sponsoring association and set it up on its own feet. They founded the association “Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg e. V. “, the city entrusted them with the continuation of the stage operation, who in turn undertook to reimburse the city for the deficit amount for 1949 in installments.
The club's beginnings as a stage operator went well. Once again, great importance was attached to the fact that the majority of the protagonists came from Tecklenburg itself. After an initially good start, things went badly for the continuation of the stage at times in the 1950s. One of the reasons was the reopening of the theater in Osnabrück , which was destroyed in the war and which competed with the Tecklenburg open-air theater. Wilhelm Tell and Die Nibelungen were well attended, The Maiden of Orléans , Götz von Berlichingen and Wallenstein hardly enough and woe to him who lies! , The robbers , Das Käthchen von Heilbronn , The Fiesco's conspiracy to Genoa and The Taming of the Shrew are completely inadequate. The play was canceled at the end of the 1965 season. A resumption attempt in 1970 with the popular play Katharina Knie failed because there were only 2,550 viewers.
According to the association's statutes, in addition to holding the open-air games, the association was also responsible for promoting cultural life in Tecklenburg. He therefore had plays performed in winter too. In this context, the fairy tale game " The brave little tailor " was performed in the winter of 1962/63 and, because of its great appeal, was included in the summer program on the open-air stage. Since then, fairy tale pieces or, since 1972, fairy tale musicals have been an integral part of the stage programs.
From the 1990s until today
In 1992 Radulf Beuleke took over the chairmanship of the association and became an honorary director . Under his leadership the stage developed artistically and organizationally. The stage and auditorium were redesigned and the theater work was professionalized. As artistic director in the mid-1990s, he pushed the program designing from spoken theater and operetta to musical productions . Since 1987 he has written the text version for all children's musicals that were performed at the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg. On November 23, 2009 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for services to the Westphalian cultural landscape .
In addition to the traditional performances of the open-air plays, there have been since the 1980s:
- "Gala concerts" with top-class artists such as B. Rene Kollo , Nicolai Gedda , Francisco Araiza ;
- Opera guest performances such as Aida , Nabucco , Carmen , The Troubadour , The Magic Flute and
- Concerts such as Carmina Burana , Amur-Don-Kosaken , Festival of International Choral Works or events such as An Afternoon with Ilse Werner , 4 times Die Oldie- Open-Air-Fete , 2 times Cale-Copf-Company , Papageno tells the magic flute and
- as third in-house productions each: Hair , The Rocky Horror Show and A Cage Full of Fools .
Other pieces that have been performed at the Freilichtspiele in recent years are Les Misérables , Jesus Christ Superstar , Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , Kiss Me, Kate , Der kleine Horrorladen , Die Fledermaus , Jekyll & Hyde , Miami Nights , West Side Story and a few others.
Events
The performances of the folk plays were discontinued due to declining visitor numbers. Interest in opera performances was examined in two series of tests - 1958 to 1963 and 1974 to 1980 - but, despite excellent reviews, with insufficient financial results. In addition to the drama , operetta / musical , folk piece and fairy tale sections , the open-air plays brought special events, such as the one of the Catholic workers' movement from Laggenbeck, European youth plays, sings and dances , which took place every 5 years, the world premiere of the sacropop musical Son of Man in 1972 , as well as the big festive church services, district home days, brass concert of the WDR 1970, international women's day of the SPD 1971, victory celebration of the Berlin Pankgrafen 1968 and district music festival as well as the open air festival 1983, the ZDF Sunday concert 1990 and own special events such as charity military music concerts , African ballet Senegal , Bolivian folklore and special events in cooperation with the charities and for the benefit of Aktion Sorgekind .
| Musicals | Children's musicals |
|---|---|
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Prizes and awards
2006 saw the world's first performance of the musical Les Misérables on an open-air stage in Tecklenburg , with Chris Murray and Jana Werner among others . With this musical the Freilichtspiele won the Da-Capo-Award 2006. They also won this prize with Mozart in 2008, Aida in 2009 and with the musical 3 Musketeers in 2010.
In 2013 the performance of the musical Der Schuh des Manitu received four awards in the category “Short Term Musical” at the Musical Awards 2013 of the music magazine Da Capo : 2nd place: Best Short Term Musical; 1st place: Best Director ( Ulrich Wiggers ); 1st place: Best Actor ( Alexander Klaws ); 3rd place: Best Actress ( Femke Soetenga ).
In 2014, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was chosen as the best “Short Term Musical” at the Musical Awards of the music magazine Da Capo at number 1; 1st place for the best price-performance ratio; Werner Bauer took second place in the “Best Director” category; Alexander Klaws # 2 Best Male Actor 2014; 3rd place for the best set design. In the musical elections of the online musical magazine “Musical 1”, the production was voted the best “open air production” with 100,000 votes cast. Alexander Klaws for best musical actor.
In 2016 the musical Saturday Night Fever was voted the “most popular open air production 2016” by the readers of the online magazine Musical 1 with 65%. The main role of Tony Manero was played by Alexander Klaws. The second Tecklenburger production 2016 Artus - Excalibur was chosen with 23% in second place of the "most popular open air productions". The title role "King Arthur" played Armin Kahl. Both productions were directed by Ulrich Wiggers.
The musical Rebecca , performed in 2017 , with Pia Douwes , Jan Ammann and Milica Jovanovic in the leading roles, was also voted "Most Popular Open Air Production" by Musical 1 . In 2018 the production Les Misérables achieved first place in the category “Most Popular Open Air Production”.
Web links
- Open air games website
- History of the open-air theater in Tecklenburg
- Images of the Tecklenburg open-air theater in the image archive of the LWL media center for Westphalia
- Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe: Burgberg Tecklenburg in LWL-GeodatenKultur
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.freilichtspiele.net/freilichtbuehne-tecklenburg/freilichtspiele-tecklenburg.html
- ↑ Programs of the Tecklenburg Open Air Theater: 1960 Martha , 1963 Cavalleria rusticana / Der Bajazzo .
- ↑ http://www.musical1.de/news/rebecca-2017-auf-der-freilichtbuehne-tecklenburg/
- ↑ http://www.musical1.de/news/shrek-kom-auf-die-freilichtbuehne-tecklenburg/
- ↑ http://www.wn.de/Muensterland/Kreis-Steinfurt/Tecklenburg/1841971-Auslösungen-fuer-die-Freilichtbuehne-Musical-Award-Joseph-raeumt-ab
- ↑ http://www.musical1.de/wahlen/
- ↑ http://www.musical1.de/wahlen/
- ↑ https://www.musical1.de/wahlen/
- ↑ https://www.musical1.de/wahlen/