Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden
The Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden in the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden is a five-branch theater. The theater has four stages Big House (1,041 seats), Small House (328 seats), Studio (89 seats) and the external Wartburg theater (154 seats, since 2003) on Schwalbacher Straße. It has about 600 employees. The director and actor Uwe Eric Laufenberg has been director of the Hessian State Theater since August 2014 .
history
Previous construction
In 1827 the new ducal court theater was opened in the immediate vicinity of the Hotel Nassauer Hof , which at the end of the 19th century proved to be too small.
New Royal Court Theater
The construction of the new Wiesbaden theater was largely initiated and promoted as the new royal court theater by Kaiser Wilhelm II . After a limited architecture competition to which Manfred Semper , a son of the famous Gottfried Semper , and Professor Georg Frentzen from Aachen were invited, the Viennese theater architect Ferdinand Fellner the Elder , who was then known throughout Europe . J. and Hermann Helmer , who erected the building in the neo-baroque style in 1892/1894 for 1.8 million gold marks . The role models for the new building included theaters in Prague , Vienna and Zurich . On October 16, 1894, after only 22 months of construction, the new house was officially opened in the presence of the emperor. At his request, a foyer was added to the east side of the formerly mirror-image theater for 600,000 marks in 1902 , which even surpassed the grandeur of the auditorium. This first extension was supplemented by a rehearsal stage, the painter's hall and various workshops on the south side of the colonnades. These areas were built by the Wiesbaden city master builder Felix Genzmer .
After the First World War it was renamed the Prussian State Theater .
Fire, reconstruction and extensions
On March 18, 1923, there was a fire on the stage, as a result of which the dome of the stage tower was completely destroyed. For cost reasons, the dome was only rebuilt in a simplified manner without the original decorations and the theater reopened after 9 months on December 20, 1923.
The sponsorship changed after the 1932 season from the state of Prussia to the city of Wiesbaden. Associated with this was another renaming in Nassauisches Landestheater . In 1937/38, as part of the redesign of the two colonnades at the theater colonnade, the neo-baroque pillar portico with the chariot sculpture drawn by five panthers was demolished and transformed into a classical portico.
During the Second World War , the north side of the theater was badly damaged by bombs on the night of February 2 to 3, 1945. The pillared portico of the theater colonnade, the originally richly decorated ticket hall and the ceiling of the auditorium fell victim to the bombs. The damaged parts of the building were only rebuilt in a very simplified manner in the post-war period. In this context, the ceiling picture of the auditorium was redesigned in 1947 by the visual artist JoKarl Huber (1902–1996).
After a renewed change of sponsorship to the newly created State of Hesse in 1946 and a temporary use of the Great House by the US armed forces, the theater could only be resumed in 1947 as the Großhessisches Staatstheater and later as the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden .
In the 1949/50 season, the splendid foyer was structurally separated from the theater and converted into a casino. This separation was not lifted until the May Festival in 1956.
From 1975 to 1978 the auditorium was extensively renovated and partially reconstructed according to historical models (ceiling paintings, coloring, stucco applications, etc.). In addition, the technology was modernized and, under the direction of the architect Hardt-Waltherr Hämer from Berlin, a large extension for rehearsal rooms, workshops, artistic directors and administration was added to the southeast corner of the theater. Since then, the outside view of the foyer has been hidden from the public except for the roof.
In 2002 the studio stage was rebuilt and renewed, as well as the auditorium of the small house, which since then only holds 285 audience seats. Due to a storm on July 11, 2014, the low-lying studio stage and many workshops were flooded.
architecture
theatre
The Wiesbaden State Theater was built in the neo-baroque style. The main entrance is in the middle of the theater colonnade , which, together with the Kurhaus colonnade opposite, flank the so-called bowling green . The Wiesbaden Kurhaus is located at the front of this square .
The back of the theater was designed as a show side. Here is a classic columned portico with a relief in the gable made of Savonnières limestone , designed by Professor Hermann Volz from Karlsruhe. The gable inscription, which was only added in 1905, quotes from Schiller's poem Die Künstler : “The dignity of mankind is given into your hand. Keep them! "
The gable shows art or poetry sitting in the middle, the poetic, female embodiment of mourning is leaning on her right, and jokes in the form of a putti clad in a fool's cap are playing at her feet. The group on the left shows a dying hero, half lying on the lap of Parze, who is cutting the thread of his life, symbolizing the tragedy. The group on the right shows the comedy in the form of a kissing couple who is overheard by a little cupid while a beautifully grown faun beats a tambourine.
The top of the gable was once crowned by a genius who held up a torch. Like the sphinxes exposed on the gable legs and the two four meter high groups of sculptures behind them, it was modeled by the Viennese sculptor Franz Vogel , a student of the sculptor Edmund von Hellmer . The left (western) group of sculptures shows the muse of music with a lyre, a sphinx and a boy. In the eastern counterpart, she blows a trumpet, carries the mask of Romus in her hand and is accompanied by a panther and a putto .
The corner projections of the stage structure are surmounted by squadrons-like panthers, which form the main figurative decoration of the side fronts. The four groups, made of zinc sheet and originally coated with a copper layer, were created by the Berlin sculptor Prof. Gustav Eberlein . They show the muse Euterpe wielding the thyrus stick in a chariot drawn by three panthers. A fifth team sat enthroned on the destroyed entrance portico until 1945.
The four partially damaged niche figures on the south facade below the gable represent drama, song, music and dance. They were created by the Stuttgart sculptor Theodor Bausch .
A landscape park ( Warmer Damm ) extends in front of the portico . A monument to the poet Friedrich Schiller , created by the sculptor Joseph Uphues , has stood in front of the aesthetic driveway since 1905.
The ceiling paintings in the auditorium and foyer were created by the Wiesbaden painter Kaspar Kögler , who was awarded the Red Eagle Order of 4th Class for his achievements . The ceiling paintings in the auditorium consist of two pictures, a small one above the stage opening and the large ceiling, in the middle of which the chandelier opening is located. The small picture shows the unleashed, floating fantasy, the large picture contains an allegory characterizing the city of Wiesbaden. On the right, on a fountain structure, which, reminiscent of the Nassau times, is surmounted by the old market fountain column with the lion, sits a woman with a rose-crowned wall crown on her head and a branch of lilies in her hand. The nymph of the fountain floats in front of her, clouds of steam escaping from the fountain, handing the steaming bowl to two children striving towards her. A boy hovering above with a forest bouquet, woad horn and crossbow is reminiscent of the forests of Wiesbaden and the surrounding area. Then the arts follow on top of the clouds, especially music, then drama and dance, and on the opposite side painting and architecture. Among these is a putti with a historical emblem: a Roman standard and the German imperial crown. Below, opposite the group of fountains, the Rhine god greets the city. Next to him sits a veiled female figure wreathed with ivy, representing the legend. Over the whole hovers an eagle with outstretched wings and the Prussian crown on its head, which carries a genius, which is to be understood as symbolizing the protection of the king over the theater in particular and the city of Wiesbaden in the broader sense. The ceiling picture, from which the god of the Rhine and numerous putti protrude, is surrounded by an extravagant baroque frame. The ceiling is completed by the restored medallions in the stitch caps . The portraits show the musicians Wagner , Beethoven , Mozart , Weber and Gluck , the writers Shakespeare , Goethe , Schiller , Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Molière , as well as the bust of Apollo .
The original equipment part is the 6 m high, 4.80 m wide and approx. 900 kg heavy chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. It is a neo-baroque chandelier made of gold-plated brass with 121 burners and prismatic cut glasses in the lower basket.
Kaiser Wilhelm II had his own entrance for his carriage (the "Kaiserfahrt"), in which he could reach his box directly from Wilhelmstrasse through the cellar. The dressing room of the emperor (today part of the side stage), which can be reached from the reception room in front of the box, was modeled exactly in its furnishings of the corresponding room of the imperial yacht Hohenzollern .
foyer
Felix Genzmer added the foyer building behind the theater colonnade on the east side of the auditorium. Externally, it adapts to the facade of the theater building through the adoption of decorative design elements and the sandstone cladding. It combines the longitudinal and central buildings in the style of late Baroque architecture. The three-storey hall is covered by a domed cap vaulted ceiling and, with the exception of the east side, is surrounded by open walkways. Since these were also only two-storey on the east side, two viewing terraces could be created here and daylight was also introduced into the hall.
Visitors to the stalls and the first tier of the theater can access the foyer directly via the corridors. The visitors to the second tier only had the opportunity to view what was happening in the foyer room from above through the semicircular openings in the stitched caps of the vaulted ceiling. According to the hierarchical rules of the time, the third-tier visitors had no access or insight into the foyer.
On the west side of the hall, a magnificent double-barreled curved staircase leads from the exit of the first tier to the ground floor. A red canopy with the royal crown and the Prussian eagle is attached above the stairs. To the left and right of it are two female figures representing peace and glory, holding palm fronds and a laurel wreath against the crown.
The ceiling painting of the vaulted ceiling, laid out in oil on canvas, is about the happiness and elevation of mankind through art descending from heaven. In the middle of the rococo-fringed painting is an oval crystal chandelier bowl, from which gilded stucco laurel wreaths extend, dividing the painting into individual sections. The main picture above the buffet shows art as a female figure with a flower-adorned lyre in the sky. She is surrounded by putti scattering flowers. In the following pictures to the left and right of it, people dressed in Greek costumes hurry towards the art or have erected an altar for it. In the following pictures the symbolizations of drama, music and dance can be recognized and in the final pictures the visual arts like sculpture, painting and architecture.
Workshop extension
In contrast to the old building, the extension from 1975 to 1978 was designed as a concrete flat roof building with large glass facades and lead cladding.
Theater operations
There are more than 30 new productions in opera , drama and ballet each year . Everything is offered , from classical works to pieces of contemporary dramatic literature to modern music theater . More than four performances can be given per day, as all four stages can be played in parallel and sometimes twice a day. In the 2007/8 season, the Wiesbaden State Theater received 27.5 million euros in public funds and was able to raise 5.3 million euros.
The ballet division is covered by the Hessian State Ballet ; it shares - alternating with guest performances by ensembles from all over the world - the stages of the state theaters in Wiesbaden and Darmstadt . The ballet director has been the choreographer Tim Plegge since the ballet was founded in 2014; the office will pass to Bruno Heynderickx in the 2020/21 season, who previously worked as curator of the Hessian State Ballet.
The International May Festival takes place in May every year . The international festival Biennale Wiesbaden is held every two years ; For 2016, a new concept was developed by the curators Martin Hammer and Maria Magdalena Ludewig († December 31, 2018).
Directorship
The director and actor Uwe Eric Laufenberg has been director of the Hessian State Theater since August 2014 . He previously worked as artistic director at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam (2004 to 2009) and the Cologne Opera (2009 to 2012), where he resigned after a conflict with the city. At the beginning of his engagement in Wiesbaden, his decision to discontinue two productions that had been staged unchanged for decades sparked a public controversy.
The former directors of the Wiesbaden State Theater were:
- Friedrich Schramm (1953 to 1962)
- Claus Helmut Drese (1962 to 1968)
- Alfred Erich Sistig (1968 to 1975)
- Peter Ebert (1975 to 1978)
- Christoph Groszer (1978 to 1986)
- Claus Leininger (1986 to 1994)
- Arnold Petersen (1994 to 1996)
- Achim Thorwald (1996 to 2002)
- Manfred Beilharz (2002 to July 2014)
- Uwe Eric Laufenberg (since 2014)
General music directors since 1945
- Ljubomir Romansky (1945–1948)
- Ludwig Kaufmann (1949–1952 musical head director)
- Karl Elmendorff (1953–1955, previously 1933–1936)
- Arthur Apelt (1956-1958)
- Wolfgang Sawallisch (1959–1960)
- Heinz Wallberg (1961–1973)
- Siegfried Köhler (1974–1988)
- Ulf Schirmer (1988–1991)
- Oleg Caetani (1992–1995)
- Toshiyuki Kamioka (1996-2004)
- Marc Piollet (2004–2012)
- Zsolt Hamar (2012-2017)
- Patrick Lange (since 2017)
JUST - Young State Theater
The Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden also offers young people a wide range of productions. All productions of the various branches for the young audience can be found in JUST. The Young Opera , Young Drama , Young Concert , Young Ballet , as well as Young State Musical and the various theater clubs are at home in JUST.
The Junge Staatsmusical ('Youth Club Theater' until the end of the 2013/15 season) offers talented young people the opportunity to try their hand at the theater and was founded in 1988 by the then chief dramaturge of the theater, Michael Schlicht. The productions of the young state musical are always accompanied by a live band. Several young actors have emerged from the institution, who, mostly after completing their studies, have also appeared in larger film, television and musical productions outside the Hessian State Theater. These include Jörg Neubauer (inter alia at the United Bühnen Wien ), Trystan Pütter ( inter alia in Hilde ), Britta Hammelstein ( Der Baader Meinhof Complex ), Nathalie Schott (inter alia continuous role in Um Himmels Willen ) and Jasna Fritzi Bauer ( Ein Tick different ). In the more than 20 years of its existence, the youth club has developed into a permanent institution in the youth theater scene under the direction of Frank Schuster (1988–1990), Reinhardt Friese (1990–2000) and Iris Limbarth (since 2000).
A part of JUST is also the theater education department , which has been continuously expanding the area of theater education and the participatory offers of the state theater since 2016.
literature
- Rudolf Cyperrek, Otto Laux, Hans-Peter Scholz: History of a theater building. 1860-1988. Hessian State Theater, Wiesbaden 1978.
- Peter Schabe: Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (= Small Art Guide. 1712, ZDB -ID 51387-8 ). Schnell & Steiner, Munich et al. 1988.
- The new royal theater in Wiesbaden. In: Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects. Vol. 51, No. 1, 1899, urn : nbn: de: kobv: co1-opus-18787 , pp. 1–4.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Landesportal Hessen - press release of November 13, 2012 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 13, 2012
- ^ Eva-Maria Magel, Wiesbaden: State Theater: A lot of art for little money . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed August 15, 2018]).
- ↑ Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden - change of leadership at the Hessisches Staatsballett. In: Staatstheater-wiesbaden.de. Retrieved April 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Volker Milch: Final end for "cult productions" in the Wiesbaden State Theater. In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt . December 7, 2013, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; accessed on January 27, 2020 .
- ^ Petition to the theater. In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt . January 23, 2014, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; accessed on January 27, 2020 .
- ^ Thomas Blubacher : Friedrich Schramm . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 3, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1634.
Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 1 ″ N , 8 ° 14 ′ 45 ″ E