Vanemuine (theater)
Coordinates: 58 ° 22 ′ 34.8 " N , 26 ° 43 ′ 26.8" E
Vanemuine is a theater in Tartu , Estonia . It is the oldest Estonian language theater and dates back to 1870.
On June 24, 1865, on the initiative of Johann Voldemar Jannsen in Tartu, the Vanemuine Selts cultural society was founded as a men's choir. The society organized the first Estonian song festival in 1869 . On the fifth anniversary of its founding, June 24, 1870, she performed the play The Cousin from Saaremaa ( Saaremaa Onupoeg ) by Jannsen's daughter Lydia Koidula , which was to become the origin of the Estonian National Theater and the Vanemuine Theater .
The theater was originally located in a building on Jaama Street , but it was destroyed by fire in 1903. A new building designed by Armas Lindgren was opened in 1906 on Aia Street (now Vanemuise Street ), with which professional theater operations began.
In 1944 the theater burned down as a result of acts of war. The theater moved into the building of the former German Theater of Tartu, a historical building, built between 1914 and 1918 in Art Nouveau style ( national romanticism), with a large hall, oval hall, adjoining and practice rooms as well as a café. After it burned down again in 1978 and was restored in 1991, it is now the “little house” of Vanemuine. A new theater building was erected at the old location in 1967; today it is the “big house” of the Vanemuine with 682 seats. A concert hall with 842 seats was opened in 1970.
