Lessingtheater (Nuremberg)

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Neon sign of the Lessing Theater above the entrance (2009)
Building of the Lessing Theater, view from Lessingstrasse (status 2009)

The Lessing Theater was initially a private, later a municipal stage in Nuremberg, which from 1946 to 1959 had its venue in the Lessing Hall of the Hotel Deutscher Hof on Lessingstrasse (in the immediate vicinity of the Opera House).

In 1946 Karl Pschigode used the hall building with the permission of the American military government for an initially private theater, the Lessing Theater. Pschigode initially wanted to call the new venue "Intimes Theater", which failed due to the contradiction of the previous operator of a former theater of this name ( Intimes Theater Nürnberg ). Derived from the street name, he chose the name Lessingtheater for a short time. The house was played by the urban ensemble, which had lost its old venue on Lorenzer Platz due to the war. The opening ceremony took place on May 16, 1948 with As You Like It by William Shakespeare . When the Lessing theater threatened bankruptcy during the currency reform , the city of Nuremberg took over the debts on June 1, 1949 and incorporated the theater for spoken theater into the municipal theaters.

As a result of this conversion, the interior of the Lessing Theater shows an idiosyncratic mixture of Art Nouveau and 1950s décor. It offered space for 561 spectators but was always considered a temporary solution because of the limited space in the stage area. The stage was only seven meters deep and the rows of seats began immediately in front of it. The lack of distance probably also made the performances so appealing (later the situation at that time was jokingly compared with the theater scene in Fellini's Roma ). Even so, pieces with more than 50 contributors were performed. A total of over 200 premieres took place there, including 27 world premieres and premieres. The house had 1.5 million visitors from 1948 to 1959 (according to Pschigode). The use of the theater by the municipal theaters did not end until 1959 with the opening of the new theater building .

The Lessing Theater was then used for balls, parties and smaller stage performances until 2003 and has been empty and decayed since then. Initiatives to restart as a variety theater, experimental stage or cabaret failed. Demolition of the listed building has meanwhile been requested.

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Coordinates: 49 ° 26 ′ 47.9 "  N , 11 ° 4 ′ 28"  E