Royal Theater (Potsdam)
The Royal Playhouse , later the City Theater , also popularly known as the Canal Opera , was an immediate building that the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II had built on the city canal for the citizens of Potsdam . According to designs by the architects Carl Gotthard Langhans or Michael Philipp Boumann , a building in the early classical style was built between 1793 and 1796 on the property "Am Kanal 8" . The architect Boumann was commissioned to carry out the construction. At the end of the Second World War, the theater was destroyed by artillery shells and the ruins were removed in 1966 to make room for a 17-storey high-rise apartment building in prefabricated construction .
history
A former half-timbered church on the city canal was previously available to the citizens for performances of traveling touring stages , which the soldier king Friedrich Wilhelm I had the Orthodox guards, who came from Russia, built in 1734. When his son Friedrich II disbanded the guard regiment and the community decimated as a result, the church was converted from 1750 as a comedy hall for the performances of the “Schuchschen” and “Wäserschen Gesellschaft”. As it became increasingly dilapidated, Frederick II had the building closed and demolished in 1777, and a mounting chamber was built in 1785 on the property "Am Kanal 29", today Yorckstrasse, according to plans by the builder Georg Christian Unger .
During the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm II, the citizens of Potsdam received a new, larger venue that could accommodate around 700 guests. Until then, there were only two theater rooms from the Frederician era in the City Palace and in the New Palais , but these were primarily used to entertain the royal court. Wilhelmine Katharine von Bischoffwerder was able to acquire the property of Wilhelmine Katharine von Bischoffwerder in the street “Am Kanal”, which was considered the most beautiful in Potsdam because of the representative house facades and a planting of linden trees along the waterway . The first construction phase with auditorium and stage took place between 1793 and 1795. The opening event took place on October 7, 1795 with the play "Mask for Mask" by Johann Friedrich Jünger . Just one year later, the building was extended by a concert hall in the second construction phase, which took up the entire width of the back front on the first floor and an adjoining lodging house was built for the actors, the so-called "actor barracks" in Friedrichstrasse, today Posthofstrasse 17, which is still preserved today. The bricks from the church of St. Nikolai , which burned down in 1795 and demolished in 1796, were used for the extension .
The 16-axis building in the early classical style extended with its long sides into the interior of the property. The narrow front, with the three arched entrance doors on the first floor, faced the canal. Above it rose a portico with a slightly recessed window wall extending over two floors and four Ionic columns in front . The busts of Aristophanes and Sophocles , for which the sculptor and plasterer Constantin Philipp Georg Sartori provided the designs, stood in arched niches above the French windows on the first floor . According to the purpose of the theater building, the inscription on the gable beam read THE PLEASURE OF THE RESIDENTS . The field in the triangular gable with surrounding beam heads remained empty. The attic below was adorned with a figure frieze based on a design by the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow , which the brothers Johann Christoph and Michael Christoph Wohler made . Boumann described the frieze in a letter to the king as follows: Apollo introduces the main character [...] and stirs the lyre, [...] next to these Thalia the comic muse and Melpomene the tragic muse, followed by the two old poets Aechillus and Menander, [...] next to Aechillus comes the muse of musical art, blasting the flute, and the other muses dance hand in hand, except for Urania, who is thinking about a column [...] .
Friedrich Wilhelm IV had renovation work carried out by cabinet order of August 7, 1850, which the architect Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse directed. The painter Franz August Schubert (1806–1893) from Dessau was commissioned to repaint the ceiling in the concert hall. The painting shows in the middle Apollo on the eagle of Zeus and on the long sides the portraits of the most famous composers of the 18th century: Haydn, Mozart, Gluck and Zelter. The stage curtains from this time were designed on one side with a view of Syracuse, in the background the main temple of the Nasos district [...] and on the other side with Windsor Castle on the Thames. In 1927 the theater was modernized by installing a revolving stage.
When the British Royal Air Force bombed the historic old town on the evening of April 14, 1945, the theater remained largely unscathed. Only during the subsequent fighting did it burn out on April 25th from Soviet artillery fire. In the course of the preparations for the “8. Workers Festival "of the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) in June 1966 in Potsdam and the associated campaign" No ruins for the Workers Festival ", the remains of the building with the still preserved frontage were demolished on May 28 of that year. The previously recovered relief from Schadow came to Berlin in the Kronprinzenpalais Unter den Linden and has been attached in two parts in the stairwell of the reconstructed building since 1969.
Game operation
In the time of Friedrich Wilhelm II there was a performance once a week. The king himself determined the performances of opera, operetta and drama. In the first few years mainly operas were performed, among others by Paisiello , Antonio Salieri , Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf , Georg Benda and Johann Friedrich Reichardt . Works by Mozart such as “ Don Giovanni ”, “ Figaro's Wedding ” and “ The Magic Flute ” were particularly well received . Since there was no ensemble of its own in Potsdam, the drama troupe from Berlin was hired by the “Royal National Theater” on Gendarmenmarkt, today “ Konzerthaus Berlin ”. The stage decoration followed by water. In August Wilhelm Iffland's 20-year directorship at the National Theater, from 1796 until his death in 1814, German acting flourished in both Prussian cities. During this time Friedrich Schiller stayed for two weeks in Berlin in 1804. In his honor, Iffland had “ The Bride of Messina ” rehearsed in Berlin . On May 17, Schiller was on his return trip to Weimar in Potsdam and attended a theater performance that evening. In his travel calendar he noted: Noon at Beume's . In the evening at the Comedy Fanchon. At night near Maßenbach.
The Potsdamer Schauspielhaus only got its own ensemble during the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. In addition, a principal managed the house leased from the crown on his own responsibility and set up the game plans without any instructions from the king. At the season opening on October 1, 1848, the opera Johann von Paris by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu was performed. The actor Hugo Wauer , known at the time , who was engaged at the Königliches Schauspielhaus in 1848/49, later wrote: Under Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the performances "For the pleasure of the residents" were so rare that the citizens were relentlessly asking a private director for the theater petitioned. These requests were finally granted in 1847. But since the director Huth owed the fees in both 1847/48 and 48/49, so that the game had to be shared, this privilege was withdrawn from him and only given to another director, Martorell, after more than twenty years.
In the years before the First World War, under the theater director Axel Delmar, more patriotic pieces were on the program, such as the popular tragedy “Glaube und Heimat” by Karl Schönherr on March 1, 1911 , which was one of the greatest stage successes of that time. In addition, Delmar founded an open-air theater for “German Homeland Games” on Potsdamer Brauhausberg in 1911 , which only existed until the end of the war. In order to enable people with lower incomes to attend a performance, the theater became part of the “ Volksbühne e. V. "connected. The association, founded in Berlin in 1890, raffled theater performances to its members and distributed tickets at an affordable price, since it was impossible for millions to raise the proper box office prices. In 1927 the theater became the property of the Prussian state. In the years 1929 to 1932, the global economic crisis did not remain without consequences for the theater. The budget was cut and the incumbent director Emil Plintz had to fire eight out of eighteen actors in 1932. The well-known audience of the house in 1930 was the writer Carl Zuckmayer , who attended a performance of his folk play " Katharina Knie " on March 4th .
After Hitler came to power , mainly National Socialist plays were on the program. For example, on October 2, 1933, the first performance of the newly founded “ Deutsche Bühne e. V. ”performed the drama Schlageter by Hanns Johst , who later became President of the Reich Chamber of Literature and sponsor of the association. Under the direction of Walter Hanser, who has been in charge of the theater since April 24, 1934, including the comedy Wenn der Hahn kräht by August Hinrichs on October 14 , or under Paul Medenwaldt, who took over from Hanser on November 12 of the same year , the piece Schill based on the historical novel Ferdinand von Schill . The novel of the German awakening by Josef Buchhorn , who was present at the performance on February 3, 1935 in the Schauspielhaus. In the final phase of the Second World War, theater operations in all German theaters had to be discontinued on September 1, 1944 by decree of the Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels .
Replacement venues after 1945
After the destruction of the Royal Theater, the first post-war concert took place at the instigation of the Lord Mayor of Potsdam in honor of the Red Army on May 26, 1945 in a hall on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse, today Hegelallee 25/26. Works by Verdi , Puccini and Bizet were presented . On September 1st, Lessing's “ Nathan the Wise ” was on the program for the opening of the theater season . On September 24 of the same year, the Soviet Army confiscated the concert hall and used it as the “House of Soviet Officers” until the fall of the Wall. When the “Brandenburg State Theater” was founded in Potsdam in 1946, the “Komödiensaal” in the New Palace was initially used as a replacement venue, which could accommodate around 300 guests. To mark the opening of the season, the play “ Iphigenie auf Tauris ” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was performed on August 28th . Decades of neglect - a planned renovation in 1928 was not carried out because of the high costs - the furnishing of the theater hall was neglected and the stage technology was no longer up to date.
After three years, the ensemble moved to the former dance restaurant “Zum Alten Fritz” at Zimmerstrasse 10, which had been used as a variety stage since June 30, 1945, and opened on October 16, 1949 with Goethe's “ Faust I ”. The theater, which was intended as a temporary provisional facility, was to serve the house for performances for decades, which was renamed the Hans Otto Theater in 1952 . As early as 1968 there were considerations for the construction of a new theater in the city center. Due to some controversy, however, the foundation stone was not laid on the Alter Markt until 1989 . After the fall of the Wall, the building shell was demolished again in 1991, following a resolution by the city council. The concert hall on Zimmerstrasse, which was in need of renovation, also had to be closed for structural reasons. The last performance was the comedy “ Poland is not lost ” by the Hungarian playwright Menyhért Lengyel on December 1, 1991 under the direction of Guido Huonder . Until a new permanent house was built, the ensemble received a “theater tent” in 1992 on the Alter Markt. The temporary arrangement made of steel with around 550 seats, popularly known as the “tin box”, remained a substitute venue until the inauguration of the Hans Otto Theater in Schiffbauergasse on September 22, 2006.
Former actor barracks
The lodging house built in 1796 on the north side of the property, the so-called "Schauspielerkaserne", offered the actors and singers who had traveled from Berlin accommodation and food during their engagement in Potsdam, as a return trip in the evening was no longer reasonable. The time it took to travel between the royal cities was described by the actor Hugo Wauer: […] the entire staff [was] picked up in royal equipages from Berlin and transported back. But since the trip, although the horses were changed in Zehlendorf, lasted almost four hours and the performances were not over until after 10 a.m., and almost always several evenings in a row, there was of course no question of going home on the same evening, and that's why At the same time as the theater, a logir house with about sixty rooms was built on the same property.
The actor barracks, like the royal theater, was built in the early classical style. The 19-axis building extends on Posthofstrasse, which runs along the north side of the property. The facade is enlivened on the first floor by framing almost all the windows with cornices and decorative rosettes under the windows. The middle section of the 3-storey house is dominated by an arched relief that extends over three window axes and was executed by the Wohler brothers based on a design by Johann Gottfried Schadow. The representations connect to the theater and show in the middle the altar of Apollo with a wreath and lyre . To his right is the muse of the comic poetry Thalia with the genius of life and figures dancing to the music of a flute player as a symbol of comedy. On the left side leaning against the altar is the muse of the tragic poem Melpomene with the genius of death, followed by Daidalus and his son Icarus and a warrior falling into his sword as symbols of tragedy. In three medallions below the arched relief, heads show Apollo in the middle, a laughing comedy poet on the right and a serious-looking tragedy poet from ancient times on the left.
Wauer reports on the rooms equipped for overnight stays that they were very simple, but very dignified. The beds were given excellent horsehair mattresses, plump pillows, quilts, etc. The castellan's wife looked after the treasure of the bedclothes. This model housewife catered for us during our stay of several days at astonishingly low prices, [...]. When the theater performances took place less often in the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm IV and the theater came under private management, the lodging house lost its original purpose and was set up as apartments for subordinate officials of the court and was heavily occupied.
In contrast to the theater, the former theater barracks survived the Second World War unscathed. Its use as a rental apartment building until the mid-1990s was followed by years of vacancy, until the listed building was restored in 2008 and 34 small-scale apartments were created. An oval staircase and the structurally unusual bundling of over 30 smoke outlets, which are brought together under the roof, are visible on the roof with only seven chimneys, dates back to the time of construction.
Tragedy poet
Apollo
Comedy poet
Arch relief in the middle part
literature
- Council of the City of Potsdam (Ed.): 1000 Years of Potsdam. Sheets from the city's history . Part I, Potsdam 1987, p. 146 ff
- Waltraud Volk: Potsdam. Historic streets and squares . 2nd Edition. Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-345-00488-7 , p. 204
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Council of the City of Potsdam: 1000 Years of Potsdam. Sheets from the city's history . P. 147.
- ^ Waltraud Volk: Potsdam. Historic streets and squares . P. 203.
- ↑ From a letter from Michael Philipp Boumann to Friedrich Wilhelm II. One year before the opening of the Royal Theater in 1795. From: Christina Siegfried: The Muses Tanzen Hand in Hand. Musical walks in Potsdam . P. 103.
- ↑ Hans Kania. In: Communications of the Association for the History of Potsdam, NF, Volume 6, No. 333, 1929, pp. 177-180.
- ↑ Christina Siegfried: The muses dance hand in hand. Musical walks in Potsdam . P. 103 f.
- ^ The secret cabinet advisor Carl Friedrich von Beyme lived in 1804 in Nauener Strasse, today Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 105, in Potsdam. From: Wolfgang Feyerabend: Walks through literary Potsdam , p. 50.
- ↑ Fanchon the Leyer Girl , Singspiel in 3 acts. Libretto: August von Kotzebue based on the French vaudeville Fanchon la vielleuse by Jean Nicolas Bouilly. Composition: Friedrich Heinrich Himmel . First performance: May 6, 1804 , Royal Drama, Berlin.
- ^ The childhood friend Christian von Massenbach lived on Waisenstrasse, today Dortustrasse 32, in Potsdam. Schiller and his family stayed with him from May 17th to 18th, 1804. From: Wolfgang Feyerabend: Walks through the literary Potsdam , p. 68.
- ^ Central and State Library Berlin, schedule in October 1848 .
- ↑ a b c d Hugo Wauer: An idyll. Humorous reviews of Berlin's "good old" days from 1834 to 1864 .
- ^ Evening edition of the Vossische Zeitung "Theater und Musik" p. 3 and of the Berliner Tageblatt p. 2–3 of March 2, 1911.
- ^ Albert Brodbeck: Handbook of the German People's Stage Movement . Berlin 1930, p. 14.
- ↑ Kurt Baller: Potsdam dates of the 20th century . Potsdam 2000, p. 44.
- ↑ Hans Hupfeld: Potsdam annual show. Havelland calendar 1935 . Potsdam 1934.
- ^ A b Hans Hupfeld: Potsdamer Annual Show. Havelland calendar 1936 . Potsdam 1935.
- ↑ Kurt Baller: Potsdam dates of the 20th century . P. 67.
- ↑ SPSG: The Castle Theater in the New Palais . Potsdam 1999, p. 15.
- ↑ SPSG: The Castle Theater in the New Palais . P. 22 f.
- ↑ Kurt Baller: Potsdam dates of the 20th century . P. 76.
Coordinates: 52 ° 23 '55.3 " N , 13 ° 3' 55.3" E