City Theater Koenigsberg

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Back of the city theater on the east side of Paradeplatz, on the left the New University

For over 200 years the Königsberg City Theater was one of the most respected theaters in Prussia and in the German Empire.

history

precursor

The Königsberg theater began with carnival games and school comedies at the beginning of the 16th century . In 1552 the “Conquest of Rome” by Georg Sabinus was performed in the courtyard , and in 1573 “The Fall of Man” by the schoolmaster Roll. In 1605, the Duchess Marie Eleonore had English comedians play her in Königsberg Castle . In 1618 they brought Shakespeare . The first opera, Simon Dachs Cleomedes by Heinrich Albert , was performed by students in 1635 before Władysław IV Wasa . 1688 went Christopher Marlowes The tragic story of Doctor Faustus over the boards. Led by Director Hilferding, played the Schönemannsche society in Altstädtischer Junkerhof the Dr. Faustus , Molières Tartuffe and Gottscheds dying Cato .

In 1753 Friedrich II. (Prussia) donated Kreytzenschen Platz to the theater director Konrad Ernst Ackermann to build a permanent theater. With the money of the businessman Friedrich Saturgus , Ackermann built the 300-seat theater as the first in the Kingdom of Prussia . It was opened in 1755 with Racine's “Mithridate” . This was followed by Lessing's Miss Sara Sampson . Fearing the Seven Years' War , Ackermann left Königsberg in 1756 and went to Leipzig .

In 1768 Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder wrote the first theater reviews in Johann Jakob Kanter's Königsberg scholars and political newspapers . In 1769 director Karl Theophil Döbbelin performed Minna von Barnhelm . Caroline Schuch used the Singspiel between 1771 and 1787 . In 1785 there were the first performances of The Robbers , The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa , Don Karlos (Schiller) and Clavigo . In 1788 the Schuch siblings brought The Abduction from the Seraglio , in 1793 Don Giovanni and in 1794 The Magic Flute .

In 1795 the theater burned down. The game continued in the old town of Junkerhof. The first performance of Figaro's Wedding took place there in 1798 . In 1800 a new theater was built on the old site based on a design by Friedrich Gilly . After another fire, it was rebuilt in 1802. Director Steinberg brought Zacharias Werner's Consecration of Power, Wallenstein and Maria Stuart in 1803 , Nathan the Wise in 1804 and The Bride of Messina in 1807 . At the beginning of the coalition wars , songs by Max von Schenkendorf were performed. In 1809 Racine's tragedy Phèdre was staged . After that the theater became a concert and society center.

City Theatre

Auditorium
New foyer

The foundation stone for the city theater was laid in 1806 by the Minister for East Prussia of the German Empire Friedrich Leopold von Schrötter on Paradeplatz (Königsberg) . The building designed by Johann Valerian Müller stood partly on the foundations of the garrison church that was still under construction . On March 9, 1808, director Carl Steinberg opened it in the presence of the court with the opera La clemenza di Tito . For unexplained reasons, the building burned down on July 1, 1808. The reopening took place in the presence of the royal couple in December 1809 with the festival The Consecration . 1810 was in the theater the premiere of William Tell (Schiller) , 1811 by The Maid of Orleans (Schiller) instead. August von Kotzebue was the artistic director . In 1815 Iphigenie auf Tauris and Götz von Berlichingen (Goethe) were performed. In 1819 director Hurray brought Fidelio and Der Freischütz to the first performance.

After the collapse of the theater in 1828 and the dissolution of the ensemble , Der Zerbrochne Krug celebrated in 1830 and Faust in 1832 . A tragedy. Premiere. The world premiere of The Last Hero of the Marienburg by Joseph von Eichendorff in 1831 was unsuccessful. The composer Richard Wagner was Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater from 1836 to 1837. In 1836 he married the actress Minna Planer who was engaged there in the Tragheim church . In 1854 the theater received gas lighting. For years, corps students from Littuania and Masovia acted as doormen . They had to make sure that only students who had been identified by the Albertus (pin) were allowed to enter the ground floor for 6 silver groschen . In return, they were allowed to watch the performance free of charge.

“At that time, the students were in close contact with the actors and operas. They liked to socialize with the youth. They were not averse to the sympathies they had gained and thus a strong applause during the performances. A Heldentenor Wild was a welcome guest at Masovia, and the meeting with Karl Helmerding was a highlight. This well-educated comedian was a member of the Berlin Wallner Theater . Franz Wallner , previously director of the German theater in Posen, had once taken over it, helped it to gain a good reputation and later even to give it its name. In the spring of 1859, Helmerding received the usual storms of applause as a guest in Königsberg. He was introduced to Masovia by a colleague. He liked it there so much that he invited all the young corps brothers to a big cab and coffee table ride to Hufen , which was in front of the fortress belt at that time . The return of the many carriages that made their way through the city to the theater, roused with songs, could only increase the artist's evening success. "

- Wanda from Puttkamer

In 1879, under the direction of Max Staegemann and under the direction of Emil Paur, the German premiere of Bizet's Carmen began , with which it began its global triumph. After the theater collapsed again after 1890, the theater foyer was rebuilt and restaurants were added in 1893. In 1903 the theater received electrical lighting. At the beginning of the First World War , the theater was rededicated as a hospital . Reopened on August 27, 1918 as a pure opera house, in 1924 it was merged with the New Playhouse to form the East Prussian State Theater . The first performance of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss took place in 1927. In 1928 the city acquired both theaters. The history of the theater ended in World War II when it burned to the ground during the air raids on Königsberg at the end of August 1944 .

Directors and Artistic Directors

Adolf Varena (1842–1912) directed the theater for over 20 years until his death.

Working place

Side entrance, left the east side of Paradeplatz

At the City Theater Königsberg:

literature

  • Erhard Ross: The history of the royal box in the Königsberg theater from 1809 to 1915. A contribution to the Königsberg theater history. In: Zeitschrift für Ostforschung , Volume 43 (1994), Issue 1, pp. 54-70 ( digitized version of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek).
  • Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon. City and surroundings. Special edition. Flechsig, Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1 .
  • Richard Armstedt: history of the royal. Capital and residence city of Königsberg in Prussia. Hobbing & Büchle, Stuttgart 1899 ( German land and life in single descriptions . 2, city stories), (reprint: Melchior-Verlag, Wolfenbüttel 2006, ISBN 3-939102-70-9 ( historical library )).
  • Fritz Gause : The history of the city of Königsberg in Prussia. 3 volumes. 2nd / 3rd supplemented edition. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1996, ISBN 3-412-08896-X .
  • Baldur Köster: Königsberg. Architecture from the German era. Husum Druck, Husum 2000, ISBN 3-88042-923-5 .
  • Jürgen Manthey : Königsberg. History of a world citizenship republic. Hanser, Munich et al. 2005, ISBN 3-446-20619-1 .
  • Gunnar Strunz: Discover Königsberg. On the way between Memel and Haff. Trescher, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89794-071-X ( Trescher travel series ).

Web links

  • www.kultur-in-ostpreussen.de [1]

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt : Königsberg from A to Z. A city dictionary. Munich 1972, ISBN 3-7612-0092-7 .
  2. John Koch : The history of the Corps Baltia . Königsberg 1906, p. 48.
  3. ^ Schuch, (Johanna) Caroline (Kulturportal West-Ost)