Cologne theater

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Schauspiel Köln, in the background the Cologne Opera in March 2010. Architect of both buildings: Wilhelm Riphahn

The Schauspiel Köln is the traditional theater in Cologne . Together with the Cologne Opera and other venues, it forms the stages of the city of Cologne . The listed building has 830 spaces in the large house , 120 in the locksmith's shop and 60 in the refreshment room. In addition, the listed Kalk Hall with 200 seats was used until it was closed in summer 2015 due to the risk of collapse. Since the 2013/14 season (September 2013) Depot 1 and Depot 2 on the site of the former Carlswerk in Schanzenstrasse in Cologne-Mülheim have served as interim venues during the extensive renovation of the theater .

history

Theater an der Glockengasse around 1872

The history of the Cologne theater begins in the Middle Ages. A first house was built in 1782 in Schmidstrasse, which was later called "Komödienstraße". A subsequent building from 1829 was destroyed in a fire in 1869. In 1872 a new house was built in Glockengasse .

In May 1898 it was decided to build a new building on Habsburgerring. A neo-baroque building with a restaurant and garden terrace was created based on a design by Carl Moritz . The house, completed in 1902, had 1,800 places and cost 3.9 million marks .

Cologne now had two large theaters, which first operated as the “United City Theaters” and from the 1906/07 season onwards as the opera house and the theater, but were sometimes run together. Mainly operas were performed in the new theater, and plays and operettas in the “old” house on Glockengasse. Julius Hofmann, the director of the theater, took over the operation of both houses.

1920 to 1945

Acting director Gustav Hartung engaged well-known Berlin actors such as Heinrich George on the Cologne stage in the 1920s , which made the house known nationwide. In 1929 Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera was to be performed in the Schauspielhaus, but the conservative Center Party wanted to prevent this. At the mediation of the then mayor of Cologne Konrad Adenauer , the play was defused and allowed to be performed.

At the time of Nazi rule , the National Socialist opera director Alexander Spring, as general manager of the Cologne theaters, was also director of the theater. During the war, the two houses in Glockengasse and on Habsburgerring were destroyed or badly damaged. In August 1945, the theater was the first theater in the British occupation zone to be able to hold performances again in replacement venues such as the university auditorium . In addition, a hall in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum on the Ubierring was expanded into “Kammerspiele” and used accordingly until 1994.

New building on Offenbachplatz

In 1957 the stages were able to move from their provisional venue in the auditorium to a newly built so-called multi-branch building on Offenbachplatz , where opera and operetta , ballet and drama were performed. In 1962, the new theater, also designed by Wilhelm Riphahn , was completed and opened with Schiller's Die Räuber , staged by the later director Oscar Fritz Schuh with Klausjürgen Wussow as Karl Moor. Federal President Heinrich Lübke also attended this performance.

In 1968 Hansgünther Heyme became senior director of the Schauspielhaus, who caused controversy with his unconventional versions of plays. He also began a close collaboration with Wolfgang Schadewaldt , whose translations of Greek dramas he brought to the stage in Cologne. Heyme was replaced by Jürgen Flimm in 1979 and Klaus Pierwoß in 1985 . In 1989 Pierwoß was the first artistic director to bring the East German director Frank Castorf to a West German theater with a production of Hamlet . The directors Torsten Fischer , Günter Krämer , Marc Günther and Karin Beier followed . On January 11, 2013, Beier said goodbye before moving to the Deutsches Schauspielhaus with her first own production of an ancient subject, the Trojans by Euripides . It was based on the editing by Jean-Paul Sartre .

present

As part of the opera renovation, the theater was to be demolished and rebuilt between 2010 and 2013. After so much was withdrawn from the new building variant for cost reasons that it hardly seemed worthwhile, the citizens' initiative called for “Courage to culture. Content in front of the facade ”to preserve the listed building and carried out a referendum, which the Cologne City Council approved in April 2010. In June 2012 EXPO XXI in the Agnesviertel on Gladbacher Wall was put into operation as an interim venue during the renovation work. An info box refurbishment set up in October 2012 provided information about its progress .

Since August 2007 Karin Beier has been the artistic director of the Cologne Schauspielhaus, Rita Thiele has been chief dramaturge and deputy director and Patrick Wasserbauer managing director. For the 2013/2014 season at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg . On November 7, 2011, Stefan Bachmann was appointed director of the house on September 1, 2013. In addition to the artistic director himself, Angela Richter , Rafael Sanchez and Moritz Sostmann are in-house directors . Bachmann has the same budget as its predecessor. The lead dramaturge (since 2015) Thomas Laue moved to UFA as chief dramaturge in September 2016 . Her successor at the beginning of the 2017/18 season was Beate Heine , previously chief dramaturge and deputy director at the Dresden State Theater. On May 23, 2019, the artistic director Stefan Bachmann extended his contract until 2023.

Awards

With the beginning of the artistic directorship of Karin Beier , Schauspiel Köln is represented with productions at the Berlin Theatertreffen every year . In 2007/2008 the Danish-Austrian artist duo SIGNA was invited with The Apparitions of Martha Rubin and in 2008/2009 a request concert directed by Katie Mitchell. There were three productions in 2009/2010: Kasimir and Karoline , a co-production with NT Gent and directed by Johan Simons , Die Schmutzigen, Die Häßlichen and the Common , directed by Karin Beier and Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns , a co-production with the Thalia Theater . In the 2010/2011 season, the Schauspiel Köln was a guest in Berlin with Karin Beier's production Das Werk / Im Bus / Ein Sturz and Der Kirschgarten , directed by Karin Henkel .

In 2010, the theater was voted the best spoken theater in North Rhine-Westphalia in the annual critics' survey by the magazine Theater-Pur and was voted “ Theater of the Year ” by the specialist magazine Theater heute . In addition, The Dirty, the Ugly and the Nasty by Ettore Scola and Ruggero Maccari , directed by Karin Beier, was named “Production of the Year”, the highest award in the German-speaking theater world. The production was also nominated for the Nestroy Theater Prize in the category “Best German-Language Performance” and received the Faust Prize in 2010 for “Best Equipment”. The Faust Prize was also awarded to Karin Beier in the “Best Director” category for Das goldene Vlies (2009) and Johannes Schütz in the “Best Equipment” category for Das Werk / Im Bus / Ein Sturz (2011).

At the end of the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, critics in a survey by the magazine Die Deutsche Bühne selected the Schauspiel Köln as the best theater in the category “Convincing overall performance” and the staging of Elfriede Jelinek's drama Das Werk / Im Bus / Ein Sturz zur best of 2011. The Jelinek trilogy was also named “Production of the Year” by Theater heute . In 2011 the Schauspiel Köln was again named “Theater of the Year”. In 2011 and 2012, in a survey of eight critics, the drama received the award The best theater in North Rhine-Westphalia .

In 2013 the play was invited to the 50th Berlin Theatertreffen with two productions : Journey through the night by Friederike Mayröcker (director Katie Mitchell) and the production Die Ratten by Gerhart Hauptmann (director Karin Henkel), which premiered at the opening of EXPO XXI in October 2012 celebrated.

In 2013, the play was invited to the Avignon theater festival in July with its production Reise durch die Nacht based on texts by Friederike Mayröcker and directed by Katie Mitchell .

Remodeling and renovation

Alternative venue Depot 1 and Depot 2 in the Carlswerk with the “Carlsgarten” in front, in March 2014

The listed theater, together with the opera house, has been extensively refurbished and renovated since 2012 according to designs by the architects HPP Cologne and Theater Projects Daberto + Kollegen Munich. During the work from the 2012/2013 season onwards, the theater will not have a permanent home. The alternative venue was the Expo XXI on Gladbacher Wall until the end of the 2012/13 season. Since then, the drama has played Depot 1 (approx. 600 places) and Depot 2 (approx. 250 places) on the site of the former Carlswerk in the Schanzenviertel in Cologne-Mülheim , the former free-standing production hall of the cable manufacturer Felten & Guilleaume . Both halls can be used in parallel.

"Outdoor venue on Offenbachplatz" in the "Small House", in September 2016

Since September 2016, the theater has been using the new "Small House", the former opera terrace , under the name " Outdoor theater on Offenbachplatz". Although the "Small House" was not yet fully furnished, it was prepared for a provisional play operation at the instigation of the theater manager Stefan Bachmann in order to be present again on Offenbachplatz.

Support association

The play is supported by the Friends of Schauspiel Köln in the Kunstsalon Köln , which invites, among other things, to visits to rehearsals, discussions with actors, dramaturges and directors as well as guided tours.

literature

  • Schauspiel Köln (Hrsg.): Schauspiel Köln 2007-2013. Artistic director Karin Beier , Walther König bookstore, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-86335-361-2 .

Web links

Commons : Schauspielhaus Köln  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 14.5 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 1.8 ″  E

Individual evidence

  1. Kölnische Rundschau (KR) January 13, 2013 Cologne Theater: Artistic Director Beier says goodbye to Cologne (dpa) , accessed on January 13, 2013
  2. - ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2008 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.ksta.de
  3. Cologne's drama is number one , Die Welt
  4. Stefan Palm: Main committee makes important personnel decisions. Signing of contracts for heads of Museum Ludwig and Schauspiel decided. City of Cologne - Office for Press and Public Relations, November 8, 2011, accessed on November 8, 2011 .
  5. Homepage Schauspiel Köln Ensemble , accessed on October 17, 2013
  6. Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) Kultur from September 26, 2013: Kölner Schauspielhaus: “We are where the center of Cologne is,” Christian Bos and Martin Oehlen conducted the conversation
  7. UFA Presse from April 6th , 2017 : Thomas Laue becomes chief dramaturge at UFA , accessed on April 9th, 2017
  8. City of Cologne press release of May 23, 2019: Contract with Artistic Director Bachmann is to be extended by two years , accessed on May 23, 2019
  9. Berliner Festspiele: Theatertreffen 2008 - International Forum (PDF; 3 MB), accessed on January 13, 2013
  10. Berliner Festspiele: Theatertreffen 2009 - International Forum (PDF; 1.4 MB), accessed on January 13, 2013
  11. a b Berliner Festspiele: Chronik Theatertreffen , accessed on January 13, 2013
  12. Karin Beier was awarded the 2009 FAUST Theater Prize for her production “Das Goldene Vlies”. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 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. In: Theaterkompass.de of November 29, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.theaterkompass.de
  13. Deutscher Bühnenverein: Der Faust 2011 , accessed on January 13, 2013
  14. ↑ Season balance ( memento of the original from February 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The German stage (accessed on July 27, 2011) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.die-deutsche-buehne.de
  15. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger : Kölner Schauspiel Theater des Jahres , accessed on August 25, 2011
  16. ^ Christiane Hoffmans: Theater season NRW: Schauspiel Köln is the stage of the year. In: welt.de . July 1, 2012, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  17. Homepage Schauspiel Köln News ( Memento from June 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  18. Schauspiel Köln DEPOT 1 and DEPOT 2. In: Spielzeitheft 2013, p. 98 f (PDF) ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 25, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunstsalon.de
  19. Schauspiel Köln: Friends of the Schauspiel Köln in the Kunstsalon , accessed on October 2, 2012