Grein City Theater

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Stadttheater Grein in the old town hall

The Grein City Theater is located in the Upper Austrian city ​​of Grein . It is the oldest city ​​theater in Austria that is still regularly used and a stop on the Kaiser Route of the Europastraße historical theater .

The theater was set up in 1791 by the citizens of Greiner and the city's magistrate in a granary (Troadkast'n) of the Greiner town hall, which was built in 1562/63 in the Rococo style. It has 167 seats, including the originally preserved locking seats , and other curiosities and has been used for theater performances by various regional and national theater groups since it opened with a few interruptions .

Since 1992 the theater has been one of the venues for the Greiner Dilettantengesellschaft. Every two years the Leopold Wandl Prize is awarded to Austrian authors for poems and prose in dialect in the Greiner City Theater. The premises are also used for theater exhibitions on regional themes, which are open to the public from May to October.

history

Before founding

The theater was founded for a social reason. On August 1, 1783, Emperor Josef II announced the news of founding an institute for the poor under the name Vereinigung Liebe des Neighborhoods, or the so-called poor institute for short. So far, poor welfare has basically been in the hands of the Church. Now the state took care - in the course of the age of enlightened absolutism - to ensure the highest possible welfare of the individual.

A pioneer of this idea was the country nobleman Johann Nepomuk von Buquoy , the owner of the South Bohemian dominion of Gratzen . As early as 1779 he had set up such an institute for the poor from his property. The success of this approach now prompted the government to emulate it for the entire imperial hereditary lands. The funds for poor relief should be raised through donations, as the public purse was in a bad financial situation. In order to tap further sources of money, an imperial court resolution in 1784 said: incidentally, plays for the good of the poor are also allowed. Since the rise of the German classics, people have been very open to Schaubühnen, at that time one could almost speak of a mass atmosphere. This positive mood also prevailed in the country, including Grein. The touring theaters were still primarily roaming the country, and they too couldn't help but donate the proceeds of one or the other performance to charitable purposes.

The devastating floods of June 1786 led to increased charity across the country. In the summer of 1787, Greiner amateur players were also playing in front of the count's family in the castle theater of Greinburg .

The lack of suitable space became a generally pressing question for Greiner. Playing in pubs was no longer satisfactory, also because there was no suitable hall there. There were no larger suitable buildings or they had a different purpose. So the church of the Franciscan monastery , which was closed in 1784 and which has been used as a tool shed since then, was out of consideration, as the decision was made as early as 1786 to set up a company to produce wood products. Eventually they played in the former church for a while. However, this does not seem to have fulfilled its task as a makeshift stage primarily for fire protection reasons.

Foundation and early years (1791–1913)

A theater in Grein (1791)

On November 30, 1790, the bookbinder Xaver Dörr had the idea of ​​holding theatrical performances to replenish the poor. This idea was positively received by those responsible at Greiner. In addition to the applicant Xaver Dörr, the theater is owed to the mayor Johann Baptist Grass, magistrate and syndic Karl Aichmayr, councilor Lorenz Pfaffinger, the citizens' committees Franz Höfler, Georg Zindl and Josef Böck as well as town clerk Franz Josef Hambeckh. The town hall's granary from 1563 was used as the space. In December 1790, the renovation work began and the result was a rococo theater in 1791, which could seat 165 people. Some of the furnishings were made of wood from the city forests, and some of the furniture from the Franciscan monastery in Grein, which was closed in 1784, was used. Master locksmith Klement Treyer, joiner Joseph Schmidt and painter Andre Artner were involved in the renovation and decoration in the late rococo style. Locked seats are still in the front rows today. The seat boards were to be fixed vertically with locks and therefore only usable for owners with the right keys.

Historical auditorium with the blocked seats that have been preserved to this day

If a theater-goer had to go to the toilet, he would retreat into a niche behind a curtain and from this place could follow the action on the stage through a crack. The original of the curtain is still hanging in the theater today.

In the town hall there was originally a detention center around which the city theater was built. In the past, inmates of the prison were also allowed to watch the performances through a window. The visitors brought the prisoners food and tobacco to the performances so that they could be kept happy and not disturb the performance. However, as the prisoners too often disturbed the citizens' theater enjoyment with noise and ridicule, the window was bricked up.

In the early years (around 1000 inhabitants) there were daily performances, on Sundays there were performances three times a day. Especially in the first few years after the theater opened, a large number of plays were performed. From the year 1793, the oldest theater bill comes from the play "The funeral feast" or "The master baker Kasperl". A group of amateurs performed this folk comedy, which was written by Karl Friedrich Hensler and which was also frequently on the program at the Leopoldstadt Theater in Vienna at the time.

Early performances

Frequently listed authors included Nestroy , Kotzebue , Bäuerle and Birch-Pfeiffer . It was partly played by the local theater association, but also by foreign actors who were able to rent the theater for a certain period of time. Those who paid the rent also received costumes and props from the municipality if necessary . The respective tenant was responsible for any damage. The room, which was located next to the play room, could be used as a cloakroom on the condition that it was never used as a bedchamber. For fire protection reasons, each tenant had to coordinate with the chimney sweep and the court usher, as they had to be present at every performance. The tenants were also responsible for keeping the stairs and the vestibule clean. In the course of time, the tenants included: Vinzenz Brandenberg, Johann Weiner, called Rosenberg, Florian Anton Hoffman, theater director and leaseholder of the princely city theater in St. Pölten , Joseph Walier, Kaspar Karschin, theater entrepreneur from Ybbs, and Alois Sellack, director of the acting company from Munich. Of the local forces who work here, which are generally made up of amateurs, Dr. Mention Max Christ.

The management of the theater was not very orderly at the beginning. That is why August Hambeckh made a proposal to the magistrate on February 20, 1833 to raise the financial level of the theater. Accordingly, the expenses should now be borne by the amateur society itself, a certain percentage of the net income from each performance should go half to the Chamber Office and half to the Poor Institute. This proposal was accepted at the council meeting on March 22, 1833. The magistrate had to be informed before each performance. The cash register, the key of which was kept by an assessor, had to be returned to the office after each performance and opened the next day in the presence of the magistrate, after which the income was counted and divided according to the proposed plan. Before the gaming revenue, the unavoidable expenses (the urgency of these was decided by the magistrate) had to be paid for, everything else had to be paid by the entrepreneur himself. Garments and other game props were only paid for by the magistrate when they were handed over to him for safekeeping.

Upheavals (1848), renovations (1874) and official closure (1903–1905)

The upheavals in 1848 brought about visual changes for the Greiner City Theater. The office and the adjoining ticket office, where the registry was located, were made available to the tax office by the citizens. The files were placed in the room next to the theater and in the gallery. However, the essence of the theater remained unchanged. Up until 1848 every theater entrepreneur could rent the theater. At the beginning of 1849, a request from Karl Karschin was rejected for the first time. The reason for this was a permit that the dilettantes based in Grein received to perform several plays, the first on Easter Monday. In addition, it was announced that in the future they would no longer be willing to rent the theater to foreign actors. Therefore, there are no longer any leases from the later decades. So it was apparently generally only played by the Greiners themselves.

The first major renovation took place in the spring of 1874, which, apart from the new scenery, was limited to repainting the walls and ceiling. The marble color of the walls and the bouquet of flowers in individual parts of the ceiling belong to this period. The original painting underneath was not found during the repairs in 1946/47. The following years were marked by the decline of the amateur society and the resurgent activity of traveling theaters. At that time, Grein was a popular tourist destination and a visit to the theater was mostly on the agenda of summer guests.

After the fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago in 1903, in which 602 people died, the entire public and the responsible authorities of all countries were moved. The Greiner City Theater was officially closed due to insufficient security. So until 1905 it had to be played in inns, but these performances were mostly poorly attended. In 1905 the makeshift emergency exit on the western outside of the town hall was completed. From this point on there were performances again.

Two world wars and the interwar period (1914–1945)

Due to the First World War , the theater was initially closed, after which shallow antics were performed. The war itself was only treated in a cheerful manner. The proceeds were used for humanitarian purposes.

In 1921 the kerosene lighting was replaced by electric lamps.

The First World War and the years of emergency that followed took away people's desire to play theater. But there was also a lack of financial resources. Dr. It was very important to Max Christ that there were performances again. He also worked as an actor himself. An association of theater friends should also make the theater more independent of the financial hardships and fluctuations of the time. The theater experienced highlights during this time with the operetta Wiener Blut by Johann Strauss and in 1929 with the appearances of Paula Wessely and Hans Jaray in the Greiner Stadttheater. The political tensions of the 1930s, however, finally extinguished the last spark of life in the theater. So it was only thanks to the resistance of this theater association and the mediation of the district administration authority in Perg that the community leadership at that time did not get its way. The politicians planned to tear down the city theater and convert it into a boardroom.

Mayor Jent planned to renovate the theater during the Second World War , but this could not be carried out at that time.

In 1945 the city theater was used as accommodation for foreigners returning home. It suffered particularly in its cloakroom inventory.

After the Second World War (1945 – today)

After the Second World War, the rows of blocked seats were saved from being demolished by the Russian occupying forces. The Russian soldiers took the golden, randomly five-pointed stars on the gallery parapets as “souvenirs”. Mayor Gürtler had the theater renovated in 1947, and experts from the Monument Office and the Linz State Theater were also brought in . The seats had to lose some of their originality. The old locking seats are still there, but the division of the seats into those with and without “Vergeltsgott” is no longer noticeable. In the course of this renovation, heating was also installed. Until then, hot bricks were simply placed on the floor in front of the armchairs before a performance began, which kept the audience's feet warm and also gave the room a suitable temperature. The two old curtains (one made in 1803 by an unknown artist based on a design by Georg Fuentes for the opera Palmyra von Salieri and the other in 1863 by the academic painter Johann Maischberger based on a painting of the Hausstein ruins by Rudolf von Alt ) were made in favor of an old one Cityscape of Grein replaced.

Between 1945 and 1963, almost 20 years, there were hardly any more performances in the theater. It was not until 1964 that the city theater was reactivated by a Viennese theater group. The Greiner Summer Games were organized and have taken place regularly since then. Since a renovation in 1992, the theater has been used all year round. After this renovation, the Greiner Dilettantengesellschaft was founded. This group is still active today. In 1993, on the 200th anniversary of the theater, Hensler's play Der Trauerschmaus was performed.

Stage design before a performance

A theater exhibition has been held every year for several years. It is open from May to October and by appointment. The theater exhibition has a certain thematic focus every year; in 2009 it was 100 years of the Danube Bank Railway . In 2011 the exhibition has the motto Mysterious Strudengau: The always new Danube Quay .

Every year there are numerous performances in the theater, such as performances by the Greiner Dilettantengesellschaft or the Greiner Summer Games, which are staged by a Viennese ensemble . In 2004 the 1,000th performance of the Summer Games was held. The principal of the Greiner Summer Games, Michael Gert, was on stage at all of the performances. Regular readings and concerts are also part of the program. The Leopold Wandl Prize is awarded every two years (in even years) to Austrian authors for poetry and prose in dialect in the Greiner City Theater.

Location of the theater and surrounding houses

Location and surroundings

The city theater is located in the center of the town on the historic Greiner town square. All around are houses from the 16th and 17th centuries, with mostly baroque facades. The parish church of St. Äqidius , a late Gothic, but heavily renovated hall church is approx. 50 m from the theater.

meaning

The listed theater is today - apart from minor changes (theater stairs, walling up of the detention windows, removal of the "silent place") - in its original state. Despite the renovations, it was largely retained in its original form and the overall impression remained unchanged. It is therefore the oldest theater in Austria, with almost unchanged structural structure . The restricted seats in the first three rows are a special feature of the Greiner Theater. The seats can be folded up and locked with a lock in the backrest. The original keys are in a showcase in the theater.

The Greiner dilettante society

Entry ticket 2009

The Greiner Dilettantengesellschaft was founded in 1992 with the intention of performing pieces from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. At the beginning typical “Hanswurst plays” and Viennese suburban theaters were presented. In the course of time, however, more modern pieces from the 20th century were played, such as Biedermann and the Arsonists by Max Frisch or Arsen und alte Spitze by Joseph Kesselring . In-house productions such as Strange Grein , a reading theater with texts from 1650 to 1850 and 9 corpses or knives, murderer, moritation were also on the program. The plays of the amateur society are usually performed in the Greiner City Theater.

The Greiner Dilettantengesellschaft has also been able to present itself away from home several times. They played at the Baroque Festival in St. Pölten, at the Spectaculum in Wels, in the U-Hof in Linz, in Götzis and at the Theater Festival in Egg . A guest performance at the international theater festival FOKUS is also on the business card of amateur actors.

In 2009 the Greiner amateurs had two world premieres on the program. The winning pieces of the Upper Austrian Drama Competition 2009 were played. The world premiere of Aga Aga by Elisabeth Koschat took place in the city theater. Gabriele Kögl's play My Life as a Consumer was premiered in the Linz State Theater in the Eisenhand venue .

Christine Geirhofer is the director of the Greiner amateurs.

Performances since 2003

The following performances by the amateurs were on the program in the city theater:

Trivia

A visit to the theater by an insignificant French general astonished the Greiners because they mistakenly believed him to be Napoleon . The box in which this general took his seat is still called the “Napoleon box” today.

Before the end of the 19th century, Greiner elementary school students only received their diplomas after they had attended a certain number of classical plays in the city theater.

literature

  • Franz Schaffranke: The Greiner City Theater. Symbol of our memorable present , in: Linzer Volksblatt. No. 271.1959.
  • Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954. online (PDF; 1.2 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
  • Hertha Schober-Awecker : The Greiner City Theater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter. Vol. 10, No. 2. pp. 55-57. 1970.
  • Josef Puchner & Hertha Schober-Awecker: Das Greiner Stadttheater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter Vol. 2, H. 7/8, pp. 19–22. 1962. online (PDF; 1.2 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
  • Leopold Höller: Grein. The Danube town in Strudengau , in: Association for the publication of a district homeland book Perg - communities of the district of Perg: Our home - The district of Perg, pp. 215–221. Perg, 1995.
  • Margarita Lengauer: Grein on the Danube in Strudengau . Korner, Grein.

Web links

Commons : Stadttheater Grein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seating plan of the theater ( online pdf )
  2. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 249
  3. ^ Bernhard Fabian: Handbook of German historical book stocks in Europe. Volume 2. Czech Republic. Castle libraries under the administration of the National Museum in Prague. Hildesheim 1997, p. 151, online at google.at
  4. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 249 f.
  5. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein, in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 250
  6. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 251
  7. ^ Margarita Lengauer: Grein on the Danube in Strudengau , p. 13 f.
  8. ↑ a b Josef Puchner & Hertha Schober-Awecker: Das Greiner Stadttheater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter Vol. 2, H. 7/8, p. 20. online (PDF; 1.2 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
  9. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 252
  10. ↑ a b c d e Margarita Lengauer: Grein an der Donau im Strudengau , p. 14.
  11. ↑ a b c Leopold Höller: Grein. The Danube town in Strudengau , in: Association for the publication of a district homeland book Perg - Municipalities of the district of Perg: Our home - The district of Perg, p. 218.
  12. ↑ a b Josef Puchner & Hertha Schober-Awecker: Das Greiner Stadttheater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter Vol. 2, H. 7/8, S. 20 f.
  13. ↑ Josef Puchner & Hertha Schober-Awecker: Das Greiner Stadttheater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter Vol. 2, H. 7/8, p. 21.
  14. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 257
  15. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 279 f.
  16. ↑ a b c d e f Leopold Höller: Grein. The Danube town in Strudengau , in: Association for the publication of a district home book Perg - Communities of the district of Perg: Our home - The district of Perg, p. 219.
  17. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 280 f.
  18. ↑ a b Josef Puchner & Hertha Schober-Awecker: Das Greiner Stadttheater , in: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter Vol. 2, H. 7/8, p. 22.
  19. ^ Gustav Brachmann: The city theater in Grein , in: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter. Vol. 8, pp. 249-284. 1954, p. 281
  20. ↑ grein.ooe.gv.at: Stadttheater Grein: Historisches Stadttheater Grein (1791)
  21. ↑ Michael Gert, in: Regiowiki.at website
  22. ↑ a b Website of the “Greiner Dilettanten Gesellschaft” at dilettanten.jimdo.com
  23. ↑ current schedule on grein.info

Coordinates: 48 ° 13 '38.5 "  N , 14 ° 51' 17.4"  E