Schauspielhaus (Wuppertal)
| Schauspielhaus Wuppertal | |
|---|---|
| architect | Gerhard Graubner |
| construction time | 1964-1966 |
| Places | 745 |
| Portal height | 4.50 m to 7 m |
| Stage width | 18 m |
| Stage depth | 14 m |
| Backstage | 21 × 10 m |
| Side stage (s) | right 17 × 13 m |
The Wuppertal Playhouse in Wuppertal - Elberfeld was designed by the architect Gerhard Graubner and built between 1964 and 1966. It was the permanent home of the Wuppertal Opera and the Tanztheater Wuppertal of Pina Bausch .
It has been recognized as an architectural monument since 2000 . Due to the requirements of the building supervisory authority , it would have had to be renovated in order to be able to keep it as a gaming venue. Due to the poor budget situation in the city of Wuppertal, the theater building was closed on June 30, 2013 at the end of the 2012/2013 season.
A reopening as a Pina Bausch Center is planned.
description
Outside
The building on Bundesallee , whose horizontal design elements are emphasized in the exterior, consists of three structures, which are symmetrically arranged and staggered in height.
The structured structure of the building structure gives an idea of its internal functions from the outside.
A sweeping entrance hall with atrium forms the ground floor of the theater .
In front of this is the single-storey foyer wing .
The large hall is set back, floating freely above the ground floor. The outer wall is slightly curved.
The stage at the back of the Wupper forms the end, which was designed as a pure cube.
The hall and the cube are characterized by a narrow ribbon of windows below the roof, which horizontally subdivides the otherwise unadorned white facade.
Inside
The front stage area is divided into two movable sections, an orchestra podium with a floor area of 14 m² and a two-storey ramp podium with a floor area of 24 m². When the orchestra podium is lowered, it forms the orchestra room with the sub-floor of the ramp podium. In the area of the ramp podium there is also a movable stage frame with two side-mounted portal towers and a liftable lighting bridge. The bridge spans the entire width of the stage from gallery to gallery and is lowered within the portal towers. The iron curtain lies in front of the orchestra pit and is curved like the seating modeled on an amphitheater. Behind the iron curtain there is a vertically pullable decorative curtain, and behind it a veil and a sound curtain.
In the main play area of the stage, a panel floor with a width of 11 m and a depth of 9.4 m was laid from square floor elements in a 1.1 m grid. These elements can be opened individually or in groups and allow a step from the lower stage, which is designed as a continuous intermediate floor at a depth of 3 m below the main play area. The main stage is 20 m wide and measured from the stage portal 14 m deep, measured from the iron curtain including the fore stage and orchestra pit 17.5 m deep. This results in a stage area of 325 m². The main stage has two secondary stages and a back stage. The right side stage is equipped with a sliding platform of 8 × 12 m, both side stages can be separated from the main stage with the help of sound-absorbing iron lifting gates.
The 20 rows of the amphitheatrical seating arrangement in the auditorium experience an increasing elevation towards the rear, which enables direct sound supply for the listeners. Taking into account the design concerns, the wooden paneling of the wall surfaces was coordinated in such a way that the unwanted reverberation time (around 1 second) could be kept as short as possible. The ceiling area had to be given special consideration, because for economic reasons the height of the auditorium was quite low. A strongly folded ceiling surface was chosen to generate the most diffuse sound field possible, which enabled the listeners to be evenly reflected with sound energy.
In the stage tower there are three working galleries one above the other with paired connecting bridges. The Schnürboden is equipped with 34 manual counter hoists, 4 panorama hoists, 2 front stage hoists and 2 skylight hoists. The 19 m high Schnürboden can be reached via a passenger elevator. The prospectus store is located in the rear part of the lower stage; A 17 m long lifting platform is used to transport the brochures.
The single-storey foyer wing was used as a venue until it was closed. There are two Japanese-style garden courtyards designed by the garden architect Akira Satō. They are enclosed by the foyer and the lobby. The larger garden measures 18 × 16 meters, the smaller one is around 12 × 16 meters. Both are designed with a two meter wide water basin and water fountains. The standing lamps in the foyer and in the auditorium are equipped with glass bodies cast by Professor Gangkofner from Munich based on a design by the architect.
history
prehistory
During the Second World War , the Barmer Haus (now known as the Opera House) and the Elberfelder Haus (Stadttheater am Brausenwerth) on June 25th were destroyed in the air raids on Wuppertal on May 30, 1943 . From October 16, 1943 to September 1, 1944, theater operations continued in the town hall on Johannisberg . From October 14, 1945, operas were performed in the town hall and, from October 21, 1945, plays were performed in a hall of the Union building .
In February 1947, consultations took place on the use of the club house on Bergstrasse, which should be used for drama performances. After major renovations, the first drama performance could take place on April 29, 1949 in the "New Theater Bergstrasse". On October 25, 1950, a room theater called Das Podium was set up in the ruins of the Barmer Haus . In the years that followed, the opera house was rebuilt and the first opera performance took place on October 15, 1956.
The theater operation "Neue Theater Bergstrasse" could no longer be continued in 1961 because the deficiencies identified by the building supervisory authority (at that time the building police) were too extensive. As a result, the possible conversion of the Thalia Theater into a theater was discussed.
On February 15, 1962, the city council first decided to build a new theater, and then on April 17, 1962, determined the future location on Bundesallee ( Bundesstrasse 7 ) at the Kluse . The head of the building department, Friedrich Hetzelt , played a key role in the decision-making process. This building site was on the main traffic axis of the city and thus between the two main Wuppertal centers of Elberfeld and Barmen and was well connected to local public transport . Before the destruction of the war, the site was originally a mixed area of trade, industry and housing. The neighboring commercial operation of the Bockmühl Brothers braiding workshop , located on the building site in a loop of the Wupper , was only closed down later and is now built over with a cinema from the Cinemaxx group .
Edification
On January 17, 1963 the architect Gerhard Graubner was commissioned by a council resolution with the planning and construction management of the new house with 750 seats and a construction volume of 43,527 m³. A special theater building committee was formed for this purpose. In 1962, in the first phase of construction as a playable, but not yet ready-to-play theater building, the costs were estimated at 7.5 million DM as part of a cost estimate. This cost estimate meant the pure construction costs without additional costs and without the costs for the outdoor facilities and initial equipment.
Another council resolution on September 19, 1963 approved the total cost of DM 10,517,000 including all ancillary costs and the exterior design of the building site; further council resolutions served to expand and complete the side stage. With the change of the artistic director ( Arno Wüstenhöfer from 1964), a significant expansion of the stage technology was approved in the second construction phase. The council decision on January 6, 1964 initiated the new building, so that on January 7, 1964 construction could begin. The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on November 5, 1964 .
On the construction site, even smaller difficulties had to be overcome during planning and execution, which increased the costs. Consideration had to be given to the upstream petrol station with repair workshop (known as the Sopp'scher Pavilion ) as well as to residential buildings and the neighboring factory building, which housed the municipal authorities and a warehouse for the theater. The foundations and air raid shelters on the property also had to be removed beforehand. The relatively high standing groundwater and the occasional flood of the Wupper caused further difficulties, so a water-repellent tub had to be created to protect the basement floors.
- The first construction phase comprised the stage house with the stage tower , the main and side stages with a limited number of artists' changing rooms, rooms for administration and technical staff as well as rehearsal rooms.
- The second construction phase included the expansion of the back stage and the assembly hall at stage height. The necessary magazines and storage rooms were located in the basement. Additional cloakrooms, operating and administration rooms were also created. The stage system experienced significantly improved stage technology with a mobile side and rear stage car, in which a revolving stage can later be installed.
A further increase in costs resulted from the improved shielding of the stage and auditorium against the noise of road traffic on the B 7 and the then noisy suspension of the suspension railway , which follows the course of the Wupper and runs around the building site on three sides. The railway line of the German Federal Railroad ( Elberfeld – Dortmund railway line ), which also causes noise , lies high above the Wupper . The construction effort was intended to reduce the noise level from 86 phon to at least 30 phon.
In the end, the investment costs amounted to 12.5 million DM, together with ancillary costs and costs for the outdoor facilities. For the pure construction costs of the theater building with all the facilities and the stage technology without the initial equipment of the stage, the costs amounted to 9.6 million DM. This means that the costs are around 12,800 DM per audience seat (750 seats in total).
The interior of the auditorium could be completed by foundations from various companies. The entire floor covering with 470 m² of Girmes carpeting made of Perlon fiber worth 15,500 DM was donated by the Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken . Further foundations came from Arterior-Textil GmbH, Raumkunst Edmund Becher.
opening
It was opened on September 24 and 25, 1966 with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan the Wise and Else Lasker-Schüler's Die Wupper . At the inauguration, Heinrich Böll gave his speech “The freedom of art” in the presence of Federal President Heinrich Lübke .
Since June 6, 2000, the building has been registered as a monument in the list of monuments of the city of Wuppertal.
Redevelopment and closure
From January 2009 onwards, the renovation of the venue, which was planned for several years, was to begin to meet fire protection requirements, although this was initially postponed. The costs for this were estimated at 6.5 million euros.
The city treasurer Johannes Slawig presented a budget security concept in 2009 with savings of around 80 million euros per year to improve the financial situation of Wuppertal, according to which, among other things, the theater should be closed by mid-2012 at the latest.
On January 29 and 30, 2010, a 24-hour protest action against the closure took place, in which other theaters from North Rhine-Westphalia, Wuppertal schools and the Wuppertal Action Alliance took part. The Deutsche Bühnenverein described the planned closure as "unacceptable" and called for an "emergency aid plan for the municipalities in dire financial straits". In June 2012 it became known that the operating license for the small gaming facility would be extended once until summer 2013. At the end of June 2013, the theater was closed due to unaffordable renovation and maintenance costs. In October 2013, the Schauspielhaus Wuppertal Initiative Wuppertal called for a round table on the future of the Schauspielhaus and the implementation of the 2006 council resolution for the renovation of the building.
At the beginning of the 2009/2010 season the “Small Theater” was opened. The small venue was in the foyer of the theater. This was converted into a small stage with 126 seats. Smaller drama and chamber opera productions by Wuppertaler Bühnen GmbH played there.
Since September 2014, a converted warehouse at the Museum for Early Industrialization has been used as a venue under the name Theater am Engelsgarten .
Pina Bausch dance center
The redevelopment and reopening of the theater as the Pina Bausch dance center has been planned since 2015 . In this new form, it should once again serve as the main performance venue of the dance theater and provide space for its work. The citizens' initiative is also calling for it to be used again as a performance location for theater productions by the Wuppertal theaters, which according to the current planning status (spring 2017) cannot be ruled out. In addition to the renovation in accordance with fire protection regulations, the conversion also provides for an extension to include a multi-storey extension on the site of the current parking lot. The planning is expected to begin in spring 2017, [out of date] with the start of the actual renovation is not expected before 2019 [out of date] .
To finance the renovation, which according to the forecast will cost 56.4 million euros, the federal government pledged its financial support in the form of 28.2 million euros in November 2015, the remaining costs will be shared equally between the state and the city of Wuppertal. However, it is still unclear how the running costs will be financed, which cannot be covered by the income of the dance theater ensemble. Financing by the city is also unclear, as the austerity program does not provide for any increase in the cultural budget. However, if the theater should be used again as a performance location for the municipal theater, the amount could be raised much more effectively after the theater at Engelsgarten is no longer used than if both houses were operated in parallel.
Others
From 1966 to 1997 the sculpture " The Seated Woman " by Henry Moore was placed on the forecourt. After it was then exhibited in the forum of the Von der Heydt Museum , the sculpture has found a new place in the former entrance hall of the swimming opera after the completion of the swimming opera renovation .
Individual evidence
- ^ Klamme municipalities: Wuppertaler Schauspielhaus finally closed , Spiegel Online from July 1, 2013
- ↑ a b c Information Wuppertal Theater Built 1964–1966 Building Department of the City of Wuppertal
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento from February 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) from Schauspielhaus-Wuppertal-Initiative.de (Böll's speech under the title "Art must go too far").
- ^ Ruhrnachrichten.de , Ruhr Nachrichten , Karin von Cieminski: Wuppertaler Schauspielhaus threatened with closure , November 18, 2009
- ↑ a b c Archived by ksta.de:: 24-hour Kulturkampf in Wuppertal, January 30, 2010 ( Memento from February 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), ( Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger )
- ↑ a b handelsblatt.com , Handelsblatt : Wuppertal gives up the theater , November 18, 2009
- ↑ derwesten.de , Der Westen , Wuppertal gives up the theater , January 18, 2010
- ↑ gymbay.de Gymnasium Bayreuther Straße , Rolf Sobolewski: GymBay against theater closure , January 20, 2010
- ↑ Kristina Gründken: Wuppertal theater closed. In: WDR 3. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013 ; Retrieved November 18, 2013 .
- ↑ Schauspielhaus: Round table required. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. October 20, 2013, accessed November 18, 2013 .
- ↑ Pina Bausch dance center is being built Westdeutsche Zeitung from November 12, 2015
- ↑ This is how the city finances the Bausch Center Westdeutsche Zeitung from December 24, 2015
- ^ Wolfgang Stock: Wuppertal street names . Thales Verlag, Essen-Werden 2002, ISBN 3-88908-481-8
- ^ Wandering of the seated ends in the swimming opera Westdeutsche Zeitung (online) on November 15, 2010
literature
- Information Wuppertal Theater Built 1964–1966 Building Department of the City of Wuppertal
Web links
- Entry in the Wuppertal monument list
- Schauspielhaus (Wuppertal). In: Structurae
- Homepage of the Wuppertaler Bühnen
- Homepage of the Tanztheater Wuppertal
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 19 ″ N , 7 ° 9 ′ 24 ″ E