Zimmer Theater Tübingen

Room theater in Tübingen's Bursagasse

Ulrich Khuon, President of the German Stage Association, with a certificate of admission

The Tübinger Zimmertheater , a member of the German Stage Association since 2019 and thus one of the smallest city theaters in the republic, is a contemporary theater in Tübingen . It was founded in 1958 as a room theater and is located on the Burse , Bursagasse number 16, directly on the Neckar front, only a few meters from the Hölderlin Tower.

At the same time, it has been home to the Institute for Theatrical Future Research (ITZ) since the 2018/19 season .

As a city theater into the future

In a ceremony in the town hall of Tübingen on December 5, 2018, on the eve of its 60th anniversary, the theater was accepted into the German Stage Association. The President, Ulrich Khuon , handed over the certificate of admission to the Deutsche Bühnenverein. This turns the Zimmer Theater Tübingen into a city theater with all the resulting rights and obligations, e.g. As a result, all committed actors receive the minimum wage agreed in the collective agreement between the Cooperative of German Stage Members (GDBA) and the German Stage Association.

history

founding

In 1958 the independent theater group Der Thespiskarren found a permanent stage here. From this, Heinz E. Johst, Werner Johst and Tom Witkowski founded the Tübingen room theater . The former laboratory of the Trappsche Apotheke at Bursagasse 16 became the Zimmer Theater Tübingen .

The theater was shown for the first time on December 6, 1958 with the opening premiere of John Osborne's Blick zurück im Zorn . After the theater initially existed as a registered association, it was converted into a GmbH in the 1970s. The main shareholder is the city of Tübingen . Along with other shareholders, it is largely borne by the city of Tübingen and is therefore to be equated with all city theaters in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The directors of the last 60 years

Tom Witkowski's Festival of Fools , based on the engraving of the same name by Peter Breughel the Elder from 1550, is a gift to the new city theater

                                  Quotation: from the present for the 60th anniversary celebration of
                                                    the fool's festival

                             They flock together from all parts of Europe,
                         the people with their dreams, - with their wishes
                          or even just their everyday needs:
                     very simple people, - lovers, - marginal figures of life,
                     - Artists, - Scientists, - Visionaries. - All fools
                   You come to the festival of encounter, - unique or ephemeral,
                      cheerful or painful, - in any case a get-together,
                like in the "Fools Festival" by Peter Breughel the elder from 1550,
                                        in which life is reflected.
              Here they are now - the fools of this world - at the same time the wise men
                 who are not afraid to put their fingers in the wounds of life,

Heinz E. Johst (1958-1960)

The founding director Heinz E. Johst staged the opening premiere with Osborne's “Blick zurück im Zorn”. On December 6, 1958, the traveling theater Der Thespiskarren Tübingen became the Zimmer Theater Tübingen . In addition to the founders Werner Johst and Tom Witkowski, the ensemble also included Anneliese Doll, Gerda Kramer and Fred Raben.

• Opening documents
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  “Looking back in anger”, December 1958 program

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  “Looking back in anger”, scene with Gerda Kramer - Anneliese Doll - Tom Witkowski December 6, 1958

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  Schedule preview of the Zimmer Theater Tübingen 1958–1959

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  Pictures of performances in the room theater 1959–1960

At that time the city of Tübingen had 9,000 students. Along with the citizens of Tübingen, these were the main theatergoers in the room theater. With 85 performances, “Blick zurück im Zorn” became the driving force behind the small theater. Likewise, the “French one-act plays” by Jean Cocteau and Guy de Maupassant , “The Misunderstanding” by Albert Camus and “In his garden, Don Perlimplin loves Belisa” by Federico García Lorca . “Korczak and the Children” by Erwin Sylvanus was on the program as a contribution to literary history .

6 artistic directors / managing directors (1960–1965)

From October 1, 1960 to January 4, 1962, Wolfgang Müller and Gerda Kramer were responsible for the management and overall artistic direction. The name “the Thespiskarren” was no longer used by the new management. On January 5, 1962, Johannes Erwin Backhaus joined the management team. The triumvirate ruled until February 8, 1962. Then Wolfgang Müller withdrew from the management, so that the two-person committee was responsible until August 30, 1962. At the beginning of the new season, Backhaus took over sole management. From November 15, 1962 to August 15, 1963 Andreas Weissert was director of the room theater. From August 16, 1963 to September 30, 1964, Helmuth Alischewski took over the management of the theater. From October 1, 1964 to September 30, 1965, Walter Ruch was the theater's director.

Wolfgang Kohlneder (1965–1967)

One of his greatest successes was "The Gardener of Toulouse" by Georg Kaiser . Joachim Konrad was the director. The premiere was celebrated with enthusiastic applause. His last two major successes were due to his successor.

Salvatore Poddine (1967–1972)

He staged the German premiere of Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz 's “Narr und Nun” as well as the musical “Fantasticks” based on “Les Romantiques” by Rostand within the directorship of Wolfgang Kohlneder . (Text: Tom Jones, music: Harvey Schmidt). “European triumph and personal tragedy” writes Bernd Mahl to Salvatore Poddine in “Good old future”. Poddine attracted national attention as a director and dancer. He also describes a very tragic incident in his chronicle 1958–2008 on page 87:

On February 12, 1972,

“Half an hour before midnight, Poddine left his apartment in the room theater at Bursagasse 16 to tell his wife to 'take a few more steps'. He went into the cellar vault of Bursagasse 2, his second theater room, in which he last stood on the stage in Handke's 'The ward wants to be a guardian': there he hanged himself . "

The Tübingen daily newspaper " Schwäbisches Tagblatt " wrote three articles and one lengthy comment on February 14, 1972. With Salvatore Poddine, theater life in Baden-Württemberg lost one of its most original and imaginative minds. He knew how to turn his house in Bursagasse into the liveliest and most extravagant German small theater with minimal financial outlay.

From 1967 to 1972 the designer Frieder Grindler designed the theater posters for the room theater.

George Tabori (1972)

George Tabori , who was staging the world premiere of his “Clowns” in the Zimmer Theater, temporarily took over the management. On May 2, 1972, the premiere of the "Clowns" took place. Reinhard Steidle staged Franz Xaver Kroetz 's “home work” as another interim director, before Helfried Foron took over the management.

Helfrid Foron (1972-1979)

The pantomime Helfrid Foron presented his new ensemble on September 1st: Marita Häring, Heidelore Kress, Herbert Fuchs, Magarete Hamm, Peter Kuderna, Uta Püschel, Hermann Woeters, Ute Hardtmann, Maximilian Ruethlein. For the first time in the history of the room theater, a fee of 1,000 DM gross per month was paid. So far, the top fee was 720 marks.

His production of Dario Fo's farce "The Thief Who Was Not Harmed" was a great success and was played in various cities in Europe. In recognition of these achievements, the Stuttgart Ministry of Culture donated a van valued at 20,000 marks so that the Zimmer Theater could fulfill its many international commitments. At the end of his 4th directorship on June 23, 1977, the Schwäbisches Tagblatt gave only the highest praise in two articles.

With 94% utilization of space, this was a dream result, artistically and financially. 50 out of 258 performances did not take place in Bursagasse, but were scattered across Europe. Foron's last production was “Varieté, Varieté”, a world premiere by Oskar Schlemmer , which took place on September 24, 1978 in Berlin. The “Styrian Autumn” and London booked the Berlin / Tübingen production.

Foron opened its last season with the premiere of "Varieté, Varieté". It was played in the factory hall of the Schweickhardt company because the stage in the room theater was too small. On October 5, 1978 the "Schwäbische Tagblatt" quoted passages from the Berlin media: "Varieté, Varieté"! A colorful multi-media spectacle .... A work commissioned by the Berliner Festwochen . Foron's departure from Tübingen took place in a 350-person tent. Waechter's “School with Clowns” was also played there. The last performance of “Varieté, Varieté” was a guest performance in Istanbul .

Siegfried Bühr (1979–1984)

The actor Dominique Horwitz was part of the Siegfried Bührs ensemble from 1979 to 1983 . In November 1983, Bühr succeeded in staging Heinrich Henkel's " Eisenwichser ". He had created a set that was larger than the remaining auditorium. 40 tubes were artfully intertwined with a length of 120 meters. Here the two actors Paul Faßnacht and Eberhard Wolff became real robots.

Hartmut Wickert (1984–1988)

Hartmut Wickert founded the Tübingen Summer Theater with the Lindenhof Theater from Melchingen, with a performance throughout the city called “Hölderlin Tübingen Tower” (1987). This was chosen by the Schwäbisches Tagblatt as the performance of the year. A full-page photo report was also published for this production, which reproduced the performance in nine stations. His last production was: “ The new Menoza or the story of the Cumban Prince Tandi” by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz , created in 1773 during Goethe's time.

Thomas Bockelmann (1988–1993)

From 1988 to 1994 Thomas Bockelmann was a lecturer in theater at the Leibnitz College of the University of Tübingen . His production, Mercedes by Thomas Brasch , was recognized as the best production at the 1990 Baden-Württemberg Theater Days in Heidelberg.

Crescentia Dünßer and Otto Kulka (1993–1995)

Crescentia Dünßer and Otto Kukla took over the Zimmer Theater Tübingen for two seasons with their tent theater ensemble. 52 performances of Faust I and II adaptations by director Gabriele Gysi were 100% sold out. In addition to the two directors, Dünßer and Kulka, the ensemble consisted of: Karin Czuka, Irene Hartmann, Ulrich Walljasper, Monika Fischer, Anne Levin, Angelika Stehle, Michael Sattler, Paul Peter Schwietzke and Sofie Thyssen.

Klaus Metzger (1996-2002)

On the fly, Klaus Metzger (director) took over the management as early as January 1996. He staged Henrik Ibsen's magnum opus Peer Gynt in the plane tree avenue at the Silcher monument as the summer theater ; the premiere took place on July 25, 2001.

Vera Sturm (2002-2007)

With her first production "The President" by Werner Schwab , with Therese Affolter , Barbara Kratz and Libgart Schwarz , a great success. In the theater magazine Theater Heute, Libgart Schwarz was named Actress of the Year for the 2003 annual issue by the critic Christine Dössel for her role Else in Presidents.

Axel Krauße and Christian Schäfer (2007-2018)

Axel Krauße managed the room theater together with Christian Schäfer. After Schäfer was appointed artistic director at the Gütersloh Theater, they started again with a permanent (mini) ensemble under the season's motto “to work” . The first season under the sole management of Axel Krauße was under the motto “What does the world cost?”. The premieres “Tomorrow the whole world speaks of me - a documentary evening about the rampage in Mühlhausen in 1913” - and “The house of the Lebanese author Arzé Khodr” were shown, among other things, which were extremely well received by the public and the press. On the 100th birthday of George Tabori, the Zimmer Theater Tübingen presented his play "Mein Kampf". The motto for the 2014/2015 season was “Let live”. Among other things, the world premiere of "Nicky and Willy", an evening on the First World War, the German-language premiere of "The Archimedes Principle" by the Catalan Josep Maria Miró i Coromina and the world premiere of "Stellplatz 51 - The Camping Musical" by the trio of authors Axel Krauße, Bernd Kohlhepp and Susanne Hinkelbein realized.

present

Dieter and Peer Ripberger (since 2018)

The new directors Dieter and Peer Ripberger have been running the Zimmer Theater Tübingen since the 2018/19 season. As the Institute for Theatrical Future Research (ITZ), the progressive theater history of the room theater is being continued - with a permanent ensemble and a decidedly contemporary orientation.

The past 60 years digital

This digital access to the history of the Tübingen room theater is a production of the Monster Control District (MCD). The computer program assembles historical documents and was sponsored by the Association of Friends of Tübinger Kultur eV.

Other venues

• In the years around 1972, the basement on Bursagasse was expanded into a second stage room, so that since then it has been possible to play either in the "room" on the Neckar with 60 seats or in the "vault" with 80 seats.
• The foyer is also used for readings and small concerts.
• In addition, the room theater plays in the former LÖWEN cinema in Kornhausstraße as the third venue.

Guest engagements and guest performances at other venues

The Zimmer Theater boasts a long list of guest engagements by well-known theater people, and these people like to refer to their work in the vicinity of the Hölderlin Tower in their vita .

The room theater was also invited to other cities, for example in the 1977/78 season it performed in various cities in Europe with Dario Fo's farce “The Thief Who Was Not Harmed”. Helfried Foron's last production was "Varieté, Varieté", a world premiere by Oskar Schlemmer, which took place in Berlin on September 24, 1978 and caused a sensation. The broadcaster Free Berlin booked a television recording without looking, and “Styrian Autumn” and London booked the Berlin / Tübingen production, for example in: Stuttgart, Berlin, Paris, Zurich, Liechtenstein, Liège, Malmö, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Bergen, Turku, Helsinki, Tampara, Copenhagen and Istanbul.

In 2009, the Zimmertheater was represented for the first time at the Ruhr Festival with Werner Fritsch's "Bring mir den Kopf von Kurt Cobain" and also in 2010 with the German-language premiere of "Zastrozzi" by the Canadian playwright George F. Walker and the world premiere of "Die Lieb-Haberin" by the Zimmer Theater - House author Joachim Zelter . The German-language premiere of Anna Jablonskaja's monodalogues “There is no end” was shown at the 2012 Festival .

In the urban theater culture, the room theater has shared the responsibility for an " open-air theater " production for the Tübingen summer theater , in which Tübingen locations are played, in alternation with the Landestheater Tübingen and the Theater Lindenhof since 1986 .

Awards

On March 3, 2012, the Zimmer Theater Tübingen was awarded the Culture Prize of the Tuebingen Community Foundation, which is endowed with 10,000 euros.

literature

• Bernd Mahl, Cultural Office of the University City of Tübingen (ed.): Good old future. 50 years of the Zimmertheater Tübingen. A chronicle. 1958-2008 . Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-910090-91-0
• Wolfgang Müller: Zimmer Theater Tübingen . In: Tübinger Blätter . 50th year 1963, pp. 90–94 ( online )

Web links

• Official website
• Sixty years of indoor theater, a digital montage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Editor: The Tübingen room theater celebrates its birthday - and thus becomes the city theater . Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tübingen December 7, 2018, p. on the front page above .
2. ↑ Wilhelm Triebold: The City Theater Goes Into the Future , in: Schwäbisches Tagblatt dated December 7, 2018
3. ↑ wn .: From the laboratory, a theater was. The actors rolled up their sleeves . Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tuebingen December 11, 1958.
4. ^ Cultural life in the southwest (gb). Tübingen: The "Tespiskarren" under a new roof . Ed .: Stuttgarter Zeitung. Stuttgart December 8, 1958.
5. ↑ tg .: “The Thespiskarren” with Osborne's “Blick zurück im Zorn” . Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tuebingen December 9, 1958.
6. ↑ Zimmer Theater Tübingen on TUEpedia by the authors Planktonissimus , Abilus and Ggroebe .
7. ^ Wilhelm Triebold: When the Thespiskarren got rolling. Theater history: A brief look back at the sometimes turbulent six decades at the Tübingen room theater ; In: Schwäbisches Tagblatt (Ed.): Tübinger Chronik of December 7, 2018, Regional Culture
8. ^ Wilhelm Triebold: "As a city theater in the future" and "celebration hour". Tom Witkowski wrote a “Fools Festival” contribution especially for the occasion. Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tübingen December 7, 2018.
9. ↑ Editor: Stormy applause, dust-throwing trampling . Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tuebingen November 7, 1966.
10. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): The room theater was given fame by “Narr und Nun” from the Adige to almost the Belt, and had its second premiere in the “New Deal era” the day before yesterday . Tübingen May 20, 1967.
11. ↑ Bernd Mahl, Cultural Office of the University City of Tübingen (ed.): Good old future. 50 years of the Zimmertheater Tübingen. A chronicle. 1958-2008 . Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-910090-91-0
12. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): The reasons for his suicide are no secret in Tübingen. A bitter power struggle over artistic and internal issues, relentless in public. Tuebingen February 14, 1972.
13. ↑ George Tabori on stage , on tabori.de
14. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (Ed.): The fourth Foron year ends next Sunday more successfully than ever before. Tübingen June 23, 1977.
15. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (Ed.): Positive season balance . Tuebingen June 21, 1978.
16. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): Berlin public and critics raved about: Welttheater und Revelation . Tübingen May 20, 1967.
17. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): The author, a trained painter's journeyman, has never seen his song to the house painter so coherent. Tuebingen December 5, 1983.
18. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): The directing acts of the room theater director . Tübingen June 1, 1987.
19. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (Ed.): Hölderlin on the Neckar - that became the great sensation of the Landeskunstwochen! Tübingen July 7, 1988.
20. ^ Wilhelm Triebold: Tangible laughter theater in the Lustnau theater tent. Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tübingen June 20, 1988.
21. ↑ Christoph Müller: “The big coup” The tent ensemble anchors firmly in Tübingen and takes over the room theater. Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tuebingen February 18, 1992.
22. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (Hrsg.): "Gabriele Gysis indestructible pocket-Faust as an absolute quota racer, with 52 consistently sold out performances." Tübingen July 20, 1995.
23. ↑ Schwäbisches Tageblatt (ed.): Ibsen's reading drama, an unbelievable spectacle. Tübingen May 3, 2001.
24. ^ Wilhelm Triebold: Sturm's first directorial act in Tübingen . Ed .: Schwäbisches Tageblatt. Tübingen October 18, 2002.
25. ^ Archives of the room theater
26. ↑ nota. Retrieved March 5, 2019 . 
27. ↑ Summer theater, article in the Tübinger Stadtwiki TUEpedia
28. ↑ Room theater at Tagblatt

Coordinates: 48 ° 31 '9.7 "  N , 9 ° 3' 20.4"  E