Big playhouse

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The Great Playhouse (back with stage entrance), 1972

The Große Schauspielhaus was a Berlin revue and comedy theater that was located between Schiffbauerdamm and Reinhardtstraße. It was created between 1918 and 1919 on behalf of the Deutsche Nationaltheater AG, founded in 1917, through the conversion of a former market hall based on a design by the Berlin architect Hans Poelzig in an expressionist style. Initially as a large theater , after 1933 as the People's Theater , the cultural institution existed until 1943. In 1945 the house, which was badly damaged in World War II, was rebuilt and renamed Friedrichstadt-Palast .

history

The building was originally built between 1865 and 1867 on behalf of the Berliner Immobilien-Aktiengesellschaft according to plans by Friedrich Hitzig as the first Berlin market hall . Because of the difficult subsoil of the building was several hundred oak piles founded . The market hall was not accepted by the public and therefore closed again after a few months. After a temporary use as a warehouse, it was converted into the Markthallen-Circus in 1873 (under the direction of Salminsky). From 1879 to 1897 Ernst Renz used the building on Markthallenstrasse (since 1891: Am Zirkus 1) with his Circus Renz , as he had to give up his previous location because of the construction of the Friedrichstrasse train station . In 1888 he had the auditorium expanded to a capacity of 5600 spectators. From 1899 the building housed Albert Schumann's Circus Schumann , which closed in 1918. In the same year the property was sold to the Deutsche National-Theater AG , founded in 1917 , which had it extensively converted into a revue theater by architect Hans Poelzig from 1918 to 1919. After the cast-iron hall construction was clad with a stucco ceiling with pegs hanging down in the shape of drops , the Berliners spoke of the " stalactite cave ". The foyer , with its cantilevered light screens, harmonized with the new interior design. On November 28, 1919, the large theater was ceremoniously reopened with the performance The Oresty by Aeschylus , edited and translated by Karl Gustav Vollmoeller , directed by Max Reinhardt .

As a result, u. a. also performed operettas and singspiele. 1930 saw the world premiere of the Singspiel Im Weiße Rößl by Ralph Benatzky and others in the production of Erik Charell .

In the spring of 1928 singers were recruited for the newly founded Comedian Harmonists from the then existing choir of the Großer Schauspielhaus .

During the Great Depression, the number of viewers fell sharply and in the summer of 1930 the Deutsche National-Theater AG had to take out new mortgages of 400,000  Reichsmarks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 1.46 million euros) from the bank for workers, employees and civil servants . By the beginning of 1932 the debts rose to 2.5 million marks, of which 1.9 million were with the work bank. After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , the Deutsche National-Theater AG was stripped of its non-profit status and taxes were set at 550,000 marks. This finally drove the Deutsche National-Theater AG into over-indebtedness. The now conformist bank workers, employees and officials occupied as the principal creditor of the new Supervisory Board. This operated the expropriation of the previous owners by resolving that the previous owners would have to submit their shares personally; otherwise they would expire. Max Reinhardt therefore sold his shares through intermediaries at a tenth of their value to the bank of workers, employees and civil servants.

In 1934 the National Socialists renamed the theater the Theater of the People ; 1938 tore workers of the German Labor Front , the stalactites wall out again and installed a " leader loge". The architect of the renovation was Fritz Fuß .

  • Interiors under construction, ca.1919

  • House front with stage entrance, approx. 1919

  • Details from the main entrance, around 1919

  • Auditorium with stalactite cave , approx. 1919

  • Columns of light in the foyer, around 1920

  • Converted auditorium, approx. 1941

  • View through the street Am Zirkus to the stage entrance Theater des Volkes and advertisement for Kraft durch Freude , ca.1941

Directors of the Great Playhouse

Erik Charell was the artistic director .

After the Second World War, from November 1947, the large theater continued to be operated as a private revue theater under the direction of Marion Spadoni. It was named Friedrichstadtpalast . In 1949 the owners were expropriated and the cultural business was continued under state management in the GDR .

Directors / Intendants of the Friedrichstadt-Palast

In 1980, the lowering of the groundwater level due to the building of the new Charité bed tower caused irreparable damage to the foundation of the Friedrichstadtpalast. On the occasion of a building inspection, the immediate closure of the theater was ordered. The children's ensemble was evacuated directly from the rehearsals . The actual cause of the closure was kept secret by the party and the government, as areas in West Berlin were also affected by the drainage. In 1988 the house was demolished; the Japanese documentary filmmaker Ryuji Miyamoto was able to capture the demolition with the camera. In the place of the old temple of culture there was then an open space and the green area of ​​Bertolt-Brecht-Platz facing the Spree. The Berlin Senate sold the site to Deutsche Immobilien AG , which was planning a new development from 2001. A multi-purpose building with 87 apartments, a hotel with 311 rooms and commercial space was built on the property and was completed in summer 2014.

In the 1970s, the “Kleine Melodie” jazz club established in the building, whose name was derived from the contrast to the “Große Melodie” theater restaurant, was a popular meeting place for young guests.

The new "Friedrichstadtpalast" was built in 1984 on the property at Friedrichstrasse 107 - not far from the old building - under the construction management of Erhardt Gißke (architects' collective). The premiere of the new Friedrichstadtpalast took place in 1984 with the revue Premiere Friedrichstraße 107 under the artistic direction of the long-time director Wolfgang Struck. Some of the items of furniture manufactured according to Poelzig's plans, such as the chandeliers in the foyer, were taken over in the new building of the Friedrichstadtpalast.

literature

  • Hans Poelzig: Construction of the Great Berlin Playhouse. (Festschrift for the opening.) Berlin 1919.
  • Heike Hambrock: Marlene Moeschke, employee? The rediscovered work of the sculptor and architect provides new insights into Hans Poelzig's Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin. In: Critical Reports , 2001, pp. 37–53. ISSN  0340-7403
  • Paul Sydow: Technical development from the renovation of the large theater. In: Wasmuthsmonthshefte für Baukunst , vol. 1920/1921, issue 1, urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-opus-8915 , pp. 3–27. (Foreword by Fritz Stahl : Das Große Schauspielhaus in Berlin , pp. 1–3.)

Web links

Commons : eh. Great Playhouse  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Comedian Harmonists . In: The orchestra . 10/1999, p. 4.
  2. ↑ Rüdiger Hachtmann: The economic empire of the German labor front 1933-1945 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8353-1037-7 , pp. 119–122.
  3. ^ Nikolaus Bernau: More than Rococo Expressionism. In: Berliner Zeitung , January 3, 2008.
  4. ↑ Uwe Aulich: An ocean liner on the Spree. In: Berliner Zeitung , December 3, 2007.
  5. ↑ yoo berlin ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yooberlin.com
  6. ↑ Matchboxes at the circus: Foundation stone in Berlin . In: baunetz.de , November 28, 2011.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '22 "  N , 13 ° 23' 10"  E