Municipal play and festival house (Worms)

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Theater hall of the municipal game and festival house in Worms from 1966
Municipal play and festival house in Worms from 1889

The municipal game and festival house was a theater and event building in Worms . It was inaugurated in 1889. The theater hall was destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in 1966 in modern forms. The outbuildings with the gastronomy wing were demolished in the 2000s for the new building of the culture and conference center Das Wormser , and the listed theater hall was integrated into it.

The theater from 1889

requirements

Until 1889, a hall in the “Wilder Mann” inn in Worms was the most important venue for theater performances.

The initiative to build the theater came from three friends who were friends: Friedrich Wilhelm Schoen (1848–1949), a theater-loving industrialist, the writer Hans Herrig (1845–1892) and the architect Otto March (1845–1913). They adopted the concept of a people's stage discussed at the time , which pursued the goal of enabling everyone to visit the theater. The entrance fees should therefore be kept low, which should be achieved in particular through simple stage technology. The equipment required for opera performances , as well as a separate ensemble , should be avoided. The external impetus for the construction was that the performance of Herrig's “Luther” on the occasion of Martin Luther's 400th birthday in 1883 had proven difficult due to the lack of a suitable venue - it was improvised in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche .

Planning and construction

Prototype: The Palais du Trocadéro in Paris
Floor plan of the play and festival hall in Worms from 1889
Interior view of the play and festival house in Worms around 1890

After about two years of discussion, the three initiators agreed on a floor plan for an orpheum , a hall for vocal performances, designed by the French architect Gabriel Davioud . Davioud's design was never implemented in this form, but was built on a smaller scale as the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris . For the more modest Worms conditions, the model was reduced again.

An appeal for donations in the press on March 25, 1887 made the initiators' considerations public. This first call for donations raised more than 200,000 marks within two months , with the construction costs ultimately totaling 665,000 marks. Friedrich Wilhelm Schoen acted as the client, Otto March as the architect and the sovereign, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and the Rhine , became the project's patron. Schoen acquired a building site between the inner city wall and the Mainz – Mannheim railway line , a little south of the main train station , at his own expense . He was able to win the architect, government builder and later Strasbourg cathedral builder Ludwig Arntz as site manager.

The first work was put out to tender in January 1888. The solemn laying of the foundation stone had to be canceled due to state mourning , as Kaiser Wilhelm I and then Kaiser Friedrich died just three months apart in the first half of the year . In the meantime, a half-timbered construction had also been considered in the structural design in order to save costs. However, since the financing developed very favorably, it was abandoned again. The building was executed in the neo-Romanesque style ; It was supposed to work through monumentality and therefore had only very sparse sculptural decoration : the municipal coat of arms in the gable above the entrance, two lions on both sides of the balcony parapet and a relief with Siegfried and the dragon on the ballroom wing. The topping-out ceremony took place on January 29, 1889, and the municipal game and festival hall was inaugurated on November 20, 1889.

It was characterized by the circular floor plan of the auditorium , into which the front stage (14 × 4.5 m) protruded and thus afforded a good view from all parts of the auditorium. The auditorium was surrounded by two tiers . The front stage was removable. Then the house could be used as the usual "peep show stage". The front stage could either be occupied by a small orchestra or additional audience seats could be set up there. The stage technology was kept simple - also in order to counter the contemporary “scenery”, by which the initiators understood the progressive perfecting of the stage set and its approach to reality in the course of the 19th century . Opposite the stage, on the back of the auditorium, there was a gallery for a choir of 100 singers and an organ . The lighting was via a lantern in the dome of the auditorium, either with daylight or with electric lighting in the dark. The house had 1200 seats. The theater building was supplemented by a wing with a ballroom, which stretched south along Bahnhofsstraße.

business

The municipal game and festival house was inaugurated on November 20, 1889 with the play "Three Centuries on the Rhine", which Hans Herrig had written especially for the occasion. The play was not a success. The people of Worms gave it the nickname "Three Centuries of Boredom".

When it opened, the Spiel- und Festhaus was already under the direction of the city administration, but was formally taken over by the city of Worms only through a city council resolution of February 21, 1893. On December 8, 1889, the new emperor, Wilhelm II , honored the house with his visit, the first visit by a German emperor to Worms in more than 300 years. The first opera to be performed in the Spiel- und Festhaus was the Troubadour by Giuseppe Verdi in the 1890/91 season , followed by Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber .

In practice, the front stage of the “Volkstheater” did not prove itself. The "folk drama" propagated by the initiators rarely appeared in performance practice. Performances by guest stages, such as the Grand Ducal Court Theater in Darmstadt or the Mainz City Theater , were designed for "peep-show stages". They couldn't do anything with the stage-free front stage and the technology of the back stage remained far below the standards that were available in the domestic venues. Therefore the front stage was finally abandoned and dismantled in 1906. The back stage was slightly expanded and provided with - initially immobile - portal towers. The stage was only given movable portal towers in 1920. On the remaining back stage, the performances were now staged in the traditional form of the "peep-box stage". The popular drama concept of the initiators was thus abandoned.

As a result of a fire , the theater burned down in 1932. In the astonishingly short time of only two years, it was possible to replace the destroyed facility and to equip it with a modern stage in the economically difficult time, largely supported by donations. For example, a revolving platform was installed.

destruction

During the Second World War , the theater building was badly damaged in an Allied air raid on Worms on February 21, 1945 . The auditorium burned out completely, the outer wall collapsed to a large extent and the remaining parts could no longer be preserved. They were canceled in the 1960s. The stage was also badly damaged, but most of it was preserved. The wing of the building, in which the ballroom and catering were located, survived the war with the least damage.

The theater from 1966

New beginning

North-west corner of the building, which includes remnants of the structure of the previous building.

The largely preserved wing with the ballroom ("Mozart Hall") served as a venue from 1946. In those years it even had its own ensemble, which was disbanded in 1954 due to the high financial deficit it caused. In the 1946/47 season Iphigenie auf Tauris was performed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . The ballroom wing was demolished in the 2000s for the new construction of the Mozart Hall.

Shortly after the currency reform , the discussion about a new theater began. Various options were considered: reconstruction, replacement with a multi-purpose hall , construction elsewhere. The "Reconstruction e. V. “formed its own committee in 1949 to channel the discussion, advance the project and collect donations. As a result, the city administration felt compelled to advertise an ideas competition , the results of which were published on March 1, 1950. The architects Peter Höbel and Dipl. Ing. HC Brinkmann won the first prize .

The city administration found, however, that none of the drafts was suitable for implementation and transferred the task of examining the construction of a theater to the city planning department. Financing was also difficult, despite a lottery organized especially for the project and, from 1951 to 1966, a special tax on tickets to events subject to amusement tax . Incidentally, the city administration continued to examine the project.

Planning and construction

But it wasn't until the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate promised a grant in 1960 that the city also made money available for the reconstruction in 1961 and its building construction department presented a preliminary draft. Since the city's building department was unable to oversee another major project due to the numerous ongoing construction projects, some of the tasks were assigned to the winner of the first prize from the ideas competition in 1950, the architects Peter Höbel and Dipl. Ing. HC Brinkmann .

On March 3, 1961, the city decided to demolish the rising parts of the ruin. It was removed and the foundations of the previous building were partially reused. The building permit was granted on May 18, 1962.

The number of seats was reduced to around 800, and the rear singers' platform in the auditorium was dispensed with. This allowed a generous design of the interior, which overall maintains the shape of a closed cylinder of its predecessor. The foyer was laid out in a ring around this building , the outer wall of which is predominantly glass. This was done with the best possible use of the inherited property, which could not be enlarged because of the adjacent streets. The construction costs amounted to 10.8 million German marks . On the one hand, the stage tower showed far more damage than initially assumed, on the other hand it had to be raised to be sufficient for the new stage. So the renovation effort was much higher than originally calculated. In addition, the traditional stage wing was reused to a considerable extent.

Worth knowing

When equipping a 90 m 2 large tapestry in the foyer highlight, prepared on the occasion of the reopening of the theater in 1966, scenes from the Nibelungen saga shows and was paid with funds that the "reconstruction eV" had collected, although not at the theater itself more were used.

The theater building is a cultural monument due to the monument protection law of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate .

business

This new theater building was inaugurated on November 6, 1966. At the opening, Don Giovanni was performed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .

literature

in alphabetical order

  • Volker Gallé , Walter Passian : The Worms and their theater. A picture and reading book for the 40th birthday of the Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus , Worms-Verlag, Worms 2006, ISBN 978-3-936118-12-4 .
  • Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal play and festival house in Worms by Otto March - “The only really original folk theater in Germany” . In: INSITU. Zeitschrift für Architekturgeschichte 4 (2/2012), pp. 253–284.
  • Walter Köhler: Municipal play and festival house in Worms on the Rhine. The theater buildings 1889–1934. A tribute to the history of theater . Fischer, Worms 1934.
  • Carl and Fritz Muth : Festschrift for the inauguration of the municipal game and festival house in Worms on the Rhine . Worms 1889.
  • Friedrich Schoen: A municipal folk theater and festival house in Worms. A suggestion and 7 plans . Stern, Worms 1887.
  • City administration Worms (Ed.): Municipal play and festival house. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Grand Ducal Court Theater first appeared on February 2, 1890 with Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966. Worms 1966, p. 47).
  2. ↑ On building services: Thomas Münter and Rudolf Biste: The stage and electrical systems . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966. Worms 1966, pp. 151–162; Werner Gabler: Sound technology in the play and festival hall . In: ibid., Pp. 163–165.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Georg Illert: Games, parties and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 44.
  2. ↑ a b Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal play and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original folk theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal of Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 254.
  3. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 255.
  4. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 257.
  5. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 258 ff.
  6. ↑ a b Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal play and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original folk theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 263.
  7. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 269.
  8. ↑ a b Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal play and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original folk theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 270.
  9. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 272.
  10. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal of Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 267 f.
  11. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 274.
  12. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 273.
  13. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 276.
  14. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 264.
  15. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal for Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 265.
  16. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Journal of Architectural History 4 (2/2012), p. 284.
  17. ↑ Wilfried Hansmann: The municipal game and festival house in Worms by Otto March - "The only really original people's theater in Germany" . In: INSITU. Zeitschrift für Architekturgeschichte 4 (2/2012), p. 273; Georg Illert: Games, parties and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 46.
  18. ↑ Fritz Reuter : The municipal game and festival house. Prerequisite, planning, execution, change . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 25; Georg Illert: Games, parties and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 46.
  19. ^ Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 47.
  20. ↑ On the stages appearing in the guest performances: Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 48, on the items listed: ders., P. 49 ff.
  21. ^ Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 48.
  22. ↑ Fritz Reuter : The municipal game and festival house. Prerequisite, planning, execution, change . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 24.
  23. ^ A b Fritz Reuter : The municipal play and festival house. Prerequisite, planning, execution, change . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 27.
  24. ^ Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 72.
  25. ↑ Gernot Heyl: The new play and festival house . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 132.
  26. ^ Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 79.
  27. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 118.
  28. ^ Georg Illert: Games, festivals and celebrations . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 78.
  29. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 90.
  30. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 92 f.
  31. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 94.
  32. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 104.
  33. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 105.
  34. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 106 ff.
  35. ^ Carl Villinger: The Citizenship Initiative . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966 . Worms 1966, p. 110 ff.
  36. ↑ Heyl, p. 136.
  37. ↑ Heyl, p. 136.
  38. ^ Höbel and Brinkmann, p. 148.
  39. ^ Höbel and Brinkmann, p. 148.
  40. ↑ Heyl, p. 136; Höbel and Brinkmann, p. 149.
  41. ↑ Heyl, p. 136.
  42. ^ Heyl, p. 147.
  43. ^ Höbel and Brinkmann, p. 148.
  44. ^ Höbel and Brinkmann, p. 149.
  45. ^ Villinger: The Initiative , p. 118; Carl Villinger: The Nibelungen tapestry in the foyer . In: Stadtverwaltung Worms (Hrsg.): Städtisches Spiel- und Festhaus. Festschrift for the inauguration of the rebuilt house on November 6, 1966. Worms 1966, pp. 166–168.
  46. ↑ Irene Spille et al. a .: City of Worms = monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Cultural monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 10. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft Worms 1992. ISBN 3-88462-084-3 , p. 138.
  47. ^ Illert: Spiele , p. 78.

Coordinates: 49 ° 37 '54.4 "  N , 8 ° 21' 22.1"  E