List of theatrical fires
Theater fires were frequent , especially up to the 19th century, due to the theater lighting using candles or gas light, and often claimed many lives.
After the fire in Vienna's Ringtheater in 1881, at the latest , numerous theaters that were unsafe for safety and lacking escape routes were closed, and numerous free-standing new buildings with iron curtains and innovative escape route concepts were built, which were subject to strict safety regulations during operation.
List of theatrical fires
| date | place | State (today) | theatre | Fatalities | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 29, 1613 | London | England | Globe Theater | 0 | Ignited by firing a cannon on the stage |
| Dec 9, 1621 | London | England | Fortune Playhouse | ||
| Apr 19, 1689 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Opera House on Amalienborg | 230 | Burned down during a performance just a few days after the house opened. |
| Nov 3, 1761 | Vienna | Austria | Theater at the Kärntnertor | 2 | |
| May 11, 1772 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Schouwburg | 18th | Triggered by a faulty sebum container during the performance |
| June 8, 1781 | Paris | France | Opéra (Salle du Palais-Royal) | several | |
| Aug 17, 1792 | Birmingham | Great Britain | Theater Royal (then "New Street Theater") | 0 | Arson |
| March 18, 1799 | Paris | France | Odéon Théâtre | 2 | Arson |
| July 1, 1808 | Koenigsberg | Germany | Playhouse | 7th | |
| Sep 20 1808 | London | England | Covent Garden Theater | 20th | |
| December 26, 1811 | Richmond, Virginia | United States | Richmond Theater | 72 | |
| July 29, 1817 | Berlin | Germany | Royal National Theater | 1 | During a rehearsal, therefore no spectators in the house. The cause of the fire is not clear. |
| Jan. 7, 1820 | Birmingham | Great Britain | Theater Royal | 1 (when cleaning up) | Arson |
| Jan. 14, 1823 | Munich | Germany | National Theater | 0 | The fire burned for two days and arson is suspected. |
| March 24, 1824 | Brandenburg | Germany | theatre | 1 | |
| March 22, 1825 | Weimar | Germany | Court theater | 0 | |
| Nov 24, 1825 | Stockholm | Sweden | Small playhouse | 3 | |
| Feb 21, 1835 | Paris | France | Théâtre de la Gaité | 3 | |
| Jan. 15, 1838 | Paris | France | Théâtre Royal Italy | 4th | |
| Aug 8, 1838 | Sinigaglia | Italy | Teatro Comunale | 2 | |
| 28 Feb 1839 | Mons | Belgium | Théâtre | 1 | |
| Apr 1, 1840 | Cork | Ireland | Theater Royal | Burned to the ground. Reopened in 1853. | |
| Apr 29, 1843 | Le Havre | France | Théâtre | 1 | |
| Aug 18, 1843 | Berlin | Germany | Linden Opera | 0 | House destroyed to the ground. The cause of the fire has not been clarified. |
| 1845 | Guangzhou (Canton) | China | theatre | 1670 | Number of victims may be exaggerated. |
| Jan. 25, 1846 | Avignon | France | Playhouse | 1 | |
| Feb. 28, 1847 | Karlsruhe | Germany | Court theater | 65 | Triggered by the gas lighting in the fully occupied auditorium during a performance. |
| Dec 16, 1848 | New York City | United States | Park Theater | ||
| March 15, 1849 | Cologne | Germany | Vaudeville Théâtre | 1 | |
| May 6, 1849 | Dresden | Germany | Old opera house at the Zwinger | 0 | |
| March 26, 1853 | Moscow | Russia | Petrovsky Theater (Imperial Opera House) | 11 | |
| May 23, 1853 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Theater Royal | ||
| Dec. 19, 1855 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Theater Royal | ||
| March 7, 1855 | Dessau | Germany | Court theater | ||
| Jan. 21, 1855 | Brussels | Belgium | Théâtre Royal | 3 (2 of them firefighters) | Burned to the ground. Reopened just a year later. Originally opened in 1700 under the name "Grand Théâtre de la Monnaie". |
| June 7, 1857 | Livorno | Italy | Teatro degli Aquidotte (arena) | at least 43 | |
| July 22, 1859 | Cologne | Germany | City Theatre | 1 | |
| Apr 9, 1861 | Barcelona | Spain | Gran Teatre del Liceu | 0 | |
| June 8, 1863 | Vienna | Austria | Theater am Franz-Josefs-Kai (Treumann Theater) | 0 | |
| Jan. 13, 1865 | Edinburgh | Great Britain | Theater Royal | 6th | |
| Dec 6, 1867 | London | Great Britain | Her Majesty's Theater | burnt to the ground as the Haymarket Theater on June 17th, 1789 | |
| Dec 11, 1867 | Paris | France | Théâtre de Belleville | 2 | |
| Feb 16, 1869 | Cologne | Germany | City Theatre | 8th | Fire at five in the morning |
| 21 Sep 1869 | Dresden | Germany | Royal Court Theater | 0 | Ignited when repairing gas lighting due to carelessness of a worker. |
| Oct 23, 1871 | Darmstadt | Germany | Court theater | 0 | |
| Oct. 29, 1873 | Paris | France | Grand Opéra (Salle Le Peletier) | 1 | |
| March 22, 1874 | augsburg | Germany | City Theater Augsburg | Destruction of the theater on Lauterlech, followed by a new building elsewhere | |
| Dec 16, 1874 | Kazan | Russia | City Theatre | 2 | |
| Nov 3, 1875 | Lyon | France | Grand Théâtre | 1 | |
| Nov 25, 1875 | Barmen | Germany | City Theatre | 3 | |
| Dec 5, 1876 | New York City | United States | Cornway's Theater, Brooklyn | 283 | |
| Feb 9, 1880 | Dublin | Ireland | Theater Royal | 1 | a gas line accidentally left open by the installer |
| Feb. 18, 1881 | Munich | Germany | Kil's Colosseum | 9 | |
| March 23, 1881 | Nice | France | Nice Opera | approx. 200 | |
| Aug 11, 1881 | Prague | Czech Republic | Národní divadlo | ||
| Dec 8, 1881 | Vienna | Austria | Ring Theater | 384 | |
| April 16, 1882 | Schwerin | Germany | Court theater | 1 | |
| May 16, 1884 | Vienna | Austria | City Theatre | ||
| Dec 6, 1885 | Moscow | Russia | Moscow City Theater | ||
| Feb. 17, 1887 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | Estates theater | 0 | |
| May 25, 1887 | Paris | France | Opera Comique | 131 | |
| 5th Sep 1887 | Exeter | Great Britain | Theater Royal | 180 | Opened two years earlier |
| Dec 31, 1890 | Zurich | Switzerland | Stock theater | 0 | |
| March 8, 1900 | Paris | France | Comédie-Française | ||
| Jan. 20, 1902 | Stuttgart | Germany | Court theater | ||
| March 24, 1902 | Barmen | Germany | City Theatre | ||
| Apr 5, 1903 | Lille | France | Théâtre | ||
| Dec 30, 1903 | Chicago | United States | Iroquois theater | 605 | A week after the opening, an electric lamp was lit on the stage. |
| Oct 7, 1904 | Basel | Switzerland | City Theatre | ||
| March 5, 1908 | Meiningen | Germany | Court theater | ||
| Aug 25, 1912 | Berlin | Germany | Theater of the West | ||
| Dec. 4, 1916 | Crayford | Great Britain | Princesses' Theater | ||
| Aug 29, 1921 | London | Great Britain | Theater Royal Stratford East | 0 | A fire that broke out on the stage at midnight destroyed the rear of the theater; the iron curtain saved the rest of the theater, including the (empty) auditorium, from destruction. |
| Jan. 25, 1922 | Dessau | Germany | Court theater | 1 | |
| March 18, 1923 | Wiesbaden | Germany | Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden | ||
| March 6, 1926 | Stratford-on-Avon | Great Britain | Shakespeare Memorial Theater | ||
| Jan. 9, 1927 | Montreal | Canada | Laurier Palace Theater | 78 | |
| December 31, 1929 | Paisley | Great Britain | Glen Cinema | 71 | |
| March 3, 1932 | Zittau | Germany | City Theatre | ||
| Feb 8, 1936 | Turin | Italy | Teatro Regio | ||
| March 30, 1946 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Theater Royal | presumably a discarded cigarette on one of the balconies | |
| May 1, 1951 | Geneva | Switzerland | Grand Théâtre de Genève | ||
| 1974 | Porto Alegre | Brazil | Sao Pedro Theater | ||
| Feb. 18, 1977 | Xinjiang | China | Xinyang Cinema | 694 | |
| Aug 19, 1978 | Abadan | Iran | Cinema Rex | 400 | |
| Oct 9, 1980 | Oslo | Norway | National Theater | 0 | In October 1943 the stage, the Schnürboden and the roof of the theater caught fire once before. |
| Nov 12, 1987 | Frankfurt am Main | Germany | Frankfurt Opera | 0 | |
| May 20, 1990 | Magdeburg | Germany | Magdeburg Theater | presumably arson | |
| Feb 12, 1990 | London | Great Britain | Savoy Theater | during renovation work (exact cause unknown) | |
| Jan. 31, 1994 | Barcelona | Spain | Gran Teatre del Liceu | 0 | kindled by welding on a backdrop. The completely burned-out theater was largely rebuilt and reopened on October 7, 1999. |
| Dec 8, 1994 | Karamay | China | Theater of Friendship (友谊 馆) | 325 | |
| Jan. 29, 1996 | Venice | Italy | Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia | During the night, the fire in the middle of the city was even fought with fire-fighting helicopters . Probably arson. The completely burned-out theater was largely rebuilt in its original form and reopened on December 14, 2003 with a concert and on November 12, 2004 with a scenic view. | |
| June 13, 1997 | Delhi | India | Uphaar Cinema | 59 | |
| 5th Sep 2005 | Beni Suef | Egypt | Beni Suef Cultural Palace | 46 | |
| March 22, 2011 | Paris | France | Élysée Montmartre | 0 |
See also
literature
- Jiří Ort : Let there be glowing light. Doplnek Publishing House, Brno 2007, ISBN 978-80-7239-215-5 . The world's first theater with light bulbs and its own steam power plants.
- Elmar Buck: Thalia on fire. Theater fires in the past and present . EFB-Verlag, Erlensee 2000, ISBN 3-88776-108-1 (with a detailed list of fires)
- August Fölsch: Theater fires and the protective measures required for prevention . Otto Meissner, Hamburg 1878.
Web links
Commons : Theater fires - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Individual evidence
- ↑ Globe Theater London - A Brief History of Development ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2013 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. , at Study - Education - Travel
- ^ Ludwig Eisenberg : List of theater fires . In: Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century. Paul List, Leipzig 1903, p. 225 ( daten.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
