Wilhelma Theater
The Wilhelma-Theater is a theater in the Stuttgart district of Bad Cannstatt . It is located right next to the main entrance to the Wilhelma zoological and botanical garden . In the theater almost 200 public events and performances (annually solo concerts , dance performances , operas, drama, etc.) listed. Most of the performances are organized by the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts , which uses the Wilhelma Theater as a learning and teaching theater.
history
The theater was built by order of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg on the banks of the Neckar opposite Cannstatt. The facility, which the monarch financed from his own coffers, was intended to replace the casino that citizens and spa guests actually wanted . Architect Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Zanth was commissioned , who chose Renaissance architectural forms for the theater. He directed the main viewing side of the theater with the portico towards the banks of the Neckar. The theater was officially opened in 1840. Zanth, raised to the personal nobility by the king in 1844, also built the royal summer residence Wilhelma from 1842 following the theater.
From 1847 to 1899 the theater was no longer used. Thanks to the initiative of the private Wilhelma Theater Society and the connection to the tram, the theater business revived from 1900 to 1912. In two construction phases between 1903 and 1909, side stairwells were added to improve safety, thereby changing the face facing the Neckar. From 1920 to 1928 the building served as an operetta theater, and from 1948 to 1962 as a cinema. At this time at the latest, the interior, which was once painted in bright colors, was painted over in light gray. Because the building did not meet fire protection regulations, the theater stood empty for decades and was left to decay. It was even threatened with demolition. It was not until 1985 that the house was renovated at the instigation of the then Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Späth , under the direction of the State Building Office and with the support of the Alt-Stuttgart Association .
In the course of this construction project, the stairwells from 1903/09 were demolished with the aim of reconstructing the condition from 1840 and new, completed stairwells were installed in the spandrels of the auditorium. The original stage machinery of the Mannheim theater machinist Mühlberger, however, was removed in this process. The original painting of the foyer, which, like that of the auditorium, has antique models in motifs and colors, was extensively examined and made visible again with restoration means, leaving the traces of aging. The painting of the auditorium was reconstructed based on a finding on the proscenium columns and the colored drawings by Zanth and - where templates were missing - the motif was added based on a drawing by Zanth's friend, the architect Jakob Ignaz Hittorf. “The fact that it could be recovered and recreated from the colored, admittedly incomplete, design drawings by Ludwig von Zanth, from remnants of the old painting as well as from comparisons with related image programs, is not only due to the hard-working Baden-Württemberg monument preservation and the Ludwigsburg building department, but also above Thanks to one thing: the painter Elmar Albrecht . The quality and solidity of its work lifts this 350-seat theater ... over many small theaters that have been reconstructed in the last few years ”.
Since 1987 the house of the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart has served as a learning and teaching theater for the most varied of artistic fields ( opera , drama , song class, puppet theater , speech training , musical comedies, concerts, etc.). Due to the small orchestra pit and the small stage, only productions with a small orchestra can be played (e.g. chamber operas ). After the last 633, the theater has only had 349 seats since 1987.
Exterior architecture
The building is made up of two structures pushed into one another at right angles, the longitudinal axes of which have a cross structure. The facade is based on Renaissance forms . The plastered superstructure made of brick masonry sits on a plinth that reaches storey height. The front side of the building has a central projection, which is divided by three arched windows. Aedicules with set sculptures flank the risalits.
Spatial concept and painting
For the auditorium of this original court and bourgeois theater, architect Zahnt chose a basic shape that approximates the circle, as in the contemporary Parisian theaters. He let the floor rise slightly amphitheatrically. Like this one, the top of the two ranks was intended for citizens. The first tier and the proscenium boxes, however, were intended for the court and nobility. The auditorium and foyer were originally and have been painted again in their motifs and their bright colors - following ancient models. The motifs refer to the theater building task.
World premieres (selection)
- The magic sleep, ballet pantomime 1840
- Nice view 1989
- It was tomorrow what was yesterday or the trip to Jerusalem in 1994
- Swabian blues 2005
- Letter to my body 2006
- The Night of Dionysus 2008
literature
- Martin Wörner, Gilbert Lupfer and Ute Scholz: Architectural Guide Stuttgart , Dietrich Reimer-Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-496-01290-0 .
- Judith Breuer, Wolfgang Mayer, Helmut F. Reichwald: Awakening from magical sleep. For the restoration of the Wilhelmatheater in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt . In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg , 16th year 1987, issue 2, pp. 65–86. ( PDF )
- Judith Breuer: The Wilhelmatheater in Stuttgart - Bad Cannstatt. Building history, importance and restoration concept of the oldest Stuttgart theater. In: AIT = Architecture, Interior Architecture, Technical Development, 95th year 1987, pp. 15–19.
- Ministry of Finance Baden-Württemberg [Hrsg.]: The Wilhelmatheater in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: the renovation and restoration of the Wilhelmatheater 1985–1987 , Stuttgart 1987.
Web links
- Website of the theater
- Hans-Joachim Scholderer: Wilhelmatheater , published on April 19, 2018 in: Stadtarchiv Stuttgart: Stadtlexikon Stuttgart.
Individual evidence
- ^ Judith Breuer, Wolfgang Mayer, Helmut F. Reichwald: Awakening from the magic sleep. For the restoration of the Wilhelmatheater in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt . In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Wuerttemberg , 16th year 1987, issue 2, pp. 66, 72 f.
- ^ Judith Breuer, Wolfgang Mayer, Helmut F. Reichwald: Awakening from the magic sleep. For the restoration of the Wilhelmatheater in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt . In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg , 16th year 1987, issue 2, pp. 75–85.
- ^ Dankwart Guratzsch in Die Welt , December 1, 1987
- ↑ Note on the original painting ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Architecture Guide Stuttgart, p. 160
Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 19.3 " N , 9 ° 12 ′ 34.1" E