Ring Theater

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The Ringtheater before 1881
Share over 100 guilders of the AG Komische Oper from January 1, 1873
Komische Oper (later: Ringtheater), poster for the premiere on May 6, 1876 
Fire inside
Carl Pippich: Fire at the portal of the ring theater
The fire ruins of the Ringtheater on December 8, 1881

The Ringtheater was a popular theater on Schottenring 7 in Vienna's 1st district, Innere Stadt , which was destroyed by fire in 1881. Today the Vienna State Police Directorate is in its place .

story

In October 1872 a consortium of three gentlemen was granted the concession by imperial resolution for a “new stable theater on the Schottenring opposite the stock exchange under the name 'Komische Oper' for theatrical performances of all kinds and ballet”. A public limited company was founded to raise construction and working capital. Emil von Förster was entrusted with the planning and construction . Since only a relatively small building plot was available to him, but the theater was supposed to hold 1,700 people, he sought to expand the room upwards and achieved this by means of a nested structure of vestibules , corridors and staircases. The Komische Oper , which was to play “light” operas as a counterpoint to the court opera , was opened on January 17, 1874 under the direction of Albin Swobodas with Rossini's The Barber of Seville .

Initially, the stock corporation to which the license had been transferred ran the company for its own account. Albin Swoboda, who was hired by the stock corporation as artistic director, resigned as early as March 9, 1874. As a result, the directors replaced each other at short notice again and again. Nobody succeeded in making the house a success, and it was even closed at times. Even the successful director of the Theater an der Wien , Friedrich Strampfer , was not able to stay afloat for more than three years, although he renamed the house the Ringtheater and expanded the repertoire to include speaking pieces, German and Italian opera and variety theater . In addition to financial difficulties, there were always technical problems, such as during the rehearsals for the "Seven Ravens". 

On June 1, 1881, Franz Jauner leased the theater. The hope is that now under his theater competent direction the company would finally flourish, made the devastating fire disaster, the Ring Theater fire , destroyed of 8 December 1881 Just before a performance of The Tales of Hoffmann a fire broke out that the (owned by the city expansion fund located , insured) theater buildings were completely destroyed and, according to official information, killed at least 384 people. As a result, a new law was passed in 1882 on the establishment of theaters and safety precautions (including the iron curtain , outward-opening doors, impregnation of the stage decorations).

At the site of Ringtheater the emperor came from private sources, the so-called Sühnhaus , an apartment building, whose interest income flowing not charity. It was badly damaged in 1945 and demolished in 1951; 1969–1974 an official building was erected on the site, in which the Vienna Federal Police Directorate and the General Inspectorate of the Security Guard , now combined in the Vienna State Police Directorate , were housed. Today a plaque on the police building reminds of the fire. Four statues, the so-called "Singing Quartet", which stood on the pilasters of the attic , are now in the Pötzleinsdorfer Schlosspark .

Picture gallery

Sculpture group from the facade (attic) of the Ringtheater, today in Pötzleinsdorfer Park:

  • "Singing Quartet - Old Woman" (Alto)

  • "Singing Quartet - Young Man" (tenor)

  • "Singing Quartet - Young Woman" (soprano)

  • "Singing Quartet - Old Man" (bass)

  • Figure shrine, set in Baden near Vienna in 1884

literature

Web links

Commons : Ringtheater  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Theater and Art News. (…) Weird opera. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt (No. 4201/1876), May 7, 1876, p. 6 middle. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  2. ↑ Theater and Art News. Weird opera. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt (No. 3376/1874), January 18, 1874, p. 6, center right. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  3. ↑ a b K (oll): 47 (.) The seven ravens .
  4. ^ The fire of the Vienna Ring Theater. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt (No. 6209/1881), December 9, 1881, p. 2 ff. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  5. ↑ Zeitzeichen on WDR 5 on December 8, 2006

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 '53.6 "  N , 16 ° 21' 49.4"  E