Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg

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The entrance to the Schauspielhaus (then still “Kammerspiele”) seen from the Theaterplatz, 2010

The Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg (formerly Kammerspiele Bad Godesberg ) is the largest theater in the city of Bonn and the first new theater to be built in the Federal Republic of Germany in the post-war period . The building was built in Bad Godesberg city ​​center in the early 1950s. Today it belongs to the Alt-Godesberg district of Bonn and is located at Theaterplatz 9 / Am Michaelshof 9 (originally Friedrich-Ebert-Straße, since 1956 Michaelstraße 9, today Am Michaelshof 9); it is a listed building .

history

Bad Godesberg was hardly destroyed in the Second World War , but the provision of housing for refugees and federal employees who had moved there put a considerable strain on the budget of the city, which was not yet incorporated into Bonn, in the post-war period. In the early 1950s, for lack of sufficient funds, the city administration decided to first build a modern theater building instead of the city hall, which was also required. This building, known as the city ​​theater , was the first new theater to be built in the Federal Republic of Germany after the war. It was built according to plans by the Düsseldorf architect Ernst Huhn under the direction of the city building department within eight months in 1951/52.

On March 28, 1952, the theater was officially opened with a performance of the Magic Flute . Federal President Theodor Heuss was present and was given a tour of the building's modern stage and cinema technology. The picture and sound system was supplied by the Düsseldorf-based UFA trading company; the other equipment included two right-hand Ernemann X projectors with attached slide equipment , arc lamp rectifiers with 75 amps each and a sound film frame amplifier system of the type MX with reserve amplifier. The auditorium originally had 738 seats, and the Schröder & Henzelmann company from Bad Oeynhausen provided the seating. Gray and green tones dominated the theater space.

The first director of the theater was Ernst Rademacher, followed by Fritz Kucht and Josef Loschelder.

The theater was played by guest ensembles and was also - for better capacity utilization - to be run as a cinema according to a council resolution from 1951. Several renovation phases followed, in 1962 the theater was temporarily closed for renovation work and in 1967 the audience capacity was reduced to 684 seats.

Just as the federal government financially supported many institutions in Bonn and Bad Godesberg, the Godesberg city administration also received grants to run the city theater. According to an agreement from 1970, 58.7% of the theater's loss compensation was taken over by the federal government. Thanks to the efforts of the Bundestag members Hugo Hauser and Horst Ehmke , the federal subsidy for maintenance costs was even increased to 70% in 1980. In 1986, as part of the integration into the umbrella organization Theater Bonn - since then known as the Kammerspiele - structural adaptations were made to the building. In 2008 the city financed new seating; today there is space for 473 spectators. In 2008, the Bonn city administration put the theater under a preservation order. The scope of protection applies to the exterior and the cash desk. The workshop hall adjoining the building is not protected.

renaming

Drama director Jens Groß, who was newly hired in 2018, suggested that the Godesberger Kammerspiele be renamed "Schauspielhaus". This was implemented at the beginning of the 2018/2019 season and celebrated with the annual theater festival on September 9, 2018. So far, the festival has taken place in and in front of the Bonn Opera.

Discussions about closing the theater

The closure and conversion of the theater building has been discussed regularly since 2006. In 2014, Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch pleaded for the Bad Godesberg Theater to be a municipal venue. The city administration suggested that the city council play plays in the Bonn Opera House in the future . In addition to the high running costs, the reason given was the upcoming renovation costs in the Godesberg house for stage technology and electrics amounting to several million euros. The cost of the necessary renovation of the stage machine alone was estimated at around two million euros. Part of the high costs for the transport of stage sets and backdrops between the depot on the grounds of the Halle Beuel, the house in Bad Godesberg and the opera on the banks of the Rhine can also be avoided if they are combined.

In 2015 it was decided to make the Godesberger Haus the central venue for theater plays in Bonn. The municipal theater, which was previously playing in Halle Beuel, has been using the theater in Bad Godesberg since then. It had to leave the Beueler Halle in order to create space for the performances of the Pantheon Theater , which was not financed by the city and which in turn had to move out of the Bonn Center , which was to be demolished . The Schauspielhaus received a guarantee of existence beyond 2018.

architecture

The roughly 30 x 70 meter building stretches along Am Michaelshof street to Theaterplatz , where it has its main entrance and which it dominates through its appearance. The building, which is covered with a flat roof, is staggered at different heights, depending on the use of the individual building components. The representative front is designed with strips of narrow, high-rectangular, slit-like windows. The building corners are rounded.

The reasons for the application for protection as a monument read:

"The staggered theater building with flat roofs is characteristic of the construction and formal design of a progressive architecture concept of the post-war period."

- Lower monument authority of the city of Bonn, quoted from: Bonner General-Anzeiger , December 27, 2008

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Information ( Memento of the original from October 15, 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. on the website Zweckverbandes Naturpark Rheinland  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.naturpark-rheinland.de
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Felix Gutschmidt: Godesberger Kammerspiele are a memorial. In: Bonner General-Anzeiger , December 27, 2008
  3. ↑ a b c d e Filmwoche , No. 9/51 (online: Bonn Stadttheater Bad Godesberg ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and Archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. On kinowiki.de ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.allekinos.pytalhost.com
  4. ↑ a b List of monuments of the city of Bonn (as of March 15, 2019), p. 6, number A 4041
  5. ^ A b c Stadthalle Bad Godesberg (eds.), Monika Weieremann, Thomas Weieremann: Fifty years of the Bad Godesberg town hall. Culinary meetings and celebrations in the country. (published on the 50th anniversary of the inauguration on December 15, 1955) Bonn 2005, p. 16 f.
  6. ↑ Other sources indicate the seat of the architect Krefeld.
  7. ↑ Irmgard Wolf: From Feldherrnhügel to the pedestrian zone. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , December 28, 2013
  8. ↑ Jens Krüger: The financing of the federal capital Bonn. Walter de Gruyter , 2006, ISBN 978-3-11020-278-6 , p. 157. ( limited preview on Google Books )
  9. ↑ PM City of Bonn: "Theater Bonn presents the new season". In: bonn.de. April 26, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018 .
  10. ^ Dietmar Kanthak: City administration Bonn. Are the Kammerspiele about to end? In: Bonner General-Anzeiger , November 2, 2014
  11. ↑ a b Bernward Althoff: The next “savings wave” is coming. Closure of the chamber plays more and more likely. In: Bonner Rundschau , January 15, 2015
  12. ↑ Future of the Bonn theater. Kammerspiele remain in Bad Godesberg. ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gruene-bonn.de 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. Website of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Bonn , December 16, 2015
  13. ↑ Marion Steeger: Kammerspiele are saved ... In: Express , December 17, 2015
  14. ^ A b Dieter Brockschnieder: Future of the Bonn theater. Chamber plays remain, the Pantheon is moving. In: Kölnische Rundschau , December 16, 2016

Web links

Commons : Kammerspiele Bad Godesberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 40 ′ 59.9 ″  N , 7 ° 9 ′ 13.8 ″  E