King Albert Theater
The König Albert Theater is the last German court theater opened in Bad Elster in 1914 under the name Kurtheater .
history
In 1888, the first theater began operating in the "Albert Theater" on Brunnenberg. Due to the great public demand from all over Europe, the "Natural Theater" was built at the Waldquelle for the summer festival in 1911 - the first of its kind in Saxony - according to plans by the Royal Saxon garden inspector Paul Schindel.
In 1913 the theater company founded in Bad Elster commissioned the Chemnitz architects Alfred Zapp and Erich Basarke with the planning and construction of a modern, representative theater. Due to the architecture and interior design in the public areas with two boxes (including a royal box), the house is considered a “democratic theater”. After almost two years of construction, today's King Albert Theater was opened on May 22, 1914 by King Friedrich August III. opened by Saxony as the last German court theater.
With the start of performance, the Kurtheater established itself - in addition to the regular concerts of the Chursächsische Philharmonie - in the summer season as a stage for national and international stars. Richard Tauber and Helge Rosvaenge as well as Paul Lincke and Eduard Künneke performed their own compositions here in the first half of the 20th century . Also soloists like the grandmother Romy Schneider, Rosa Albach-Retty , the pianist and music publisher Beethoven's Alfred Hoehn , the ballet master Christel Delze von Lobental, the daughter of the opera singer Alice Guszalewicz, Gesine Guszalewicz, the sopranos Gertrud Bindernagel , Hedwig Hillengillie, Hilde Michael Clauss and actors such as Heinrich George , Bernhard Wildenhain , Carola Toelle , Harry Liedtke and Maria von Tasnady appeared in the theater.
Since the beginning of the theater business, cultural partners such as the Royal Court Theater Dresden (today's Semperoper and Staatsschauspiel), the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden , the court theaters from Altenburg and Gera, the Dresden Philharmonic and the State Theaters of Saxony have made regular guest appearances in Bad Elster .
As part of the program, various festivals and theme weeks were held in Bad Elster in the first half of the 20th century, primarily to attract audiences from major European cities for a stay in the royal Saxon town of Bad Elster. In addition to regular opera festivals, “ Johann Strauss and Operetta Festivals” or a “Contemporary Music Festival”, “Hans Sachs Games” and a wide variety of thematic festival weeks were established, which consolidated Bad Elster's reputation as a trend-setting festival city across the region. During the Second World War, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under Karl Böhm worked at the music festival in the Elsteraner Theater and was relocated here for several months after the destruction of Dresden .
After 1990 the historical name Kurtheater was dropped and the new name König Albert Theater was introduced.
In addition to an extensive concert program of the Chursächsische Philharmonie as the orchestra of the Sächsische Staatsbad, various events were staged in the King Albert Theater in the second half of the 20th century until 1998. In addition to the pianist Swjatoslaw Richter and Katja Ebstein, numerous ensembles and productions from East and West made guest appearances in the Bad Elster Theater, which also enriched the region culturally and socially during this period.
Meeting point at the King Albert Theater
In the years 1998 to 2004 a comprehensive renovation was carried out for the purpose of adapting to contemporary theater technology. The theater reopened on May 22, 2004. Since then, it has been under the patronage of Alexander Margrave von Meissen and offers music theater, cabaret, drama and concerts as well as readings and cabaret.
In addition to concerts and productions by the Chursächsische Philharmonie, which is located here, the year-round program is now mainly characterized by artistic partnerships in the classical and theater sectors, among others. a. with the Semperoper Dresden, the Frauenkirche Dresden , the MDR Musiksommer, the Landesbühnen Sachsen, the theaters from Liberec and Ústí nad Labem or the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra.
Since its reopening, the honorary artists and friends of the König Albert Theater have included Wolfgang Stumph , Johannes Heesters , Stefanie Hertel , Rolf Hoppe , Jan Vogler , Tom Pauls , Gunther Emmerlich , Ute Freudenberg , Olaf Schubert , Walter Plathe , Bernd-Lutz Lange and Nike Wagner and Hugo Strasser .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ G. Németh: Bad Elster - stories from history. Vogtland-Verlag, Bad Elster 2013, ISBN 978-3-86716-100-8 , p. 148 ff.
- ↑ C. Jung: Historical theaters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-422-02185-3 , p. 126 ff.
Coordinates: 50 ° 16 ′ 57 ″ N , 12 ° 14 ′ 18 ″ E