The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on

Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, formerly the Bülowplatz, is a square in Berlin-Mitte, Germany. History The square is dominated by the Volksbühne and by the Karl-Liebknecht-Haus, the headquarters of the German Left Party. The party's predecessor, the ...

(Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre.

About

The Volksbühne was built during the years 1913 to 1914 and was designed by

Oskar Kaufmann Oskar Kaufmann (2 February 1873 – 8 September 1956) was a Hungarian architect. He was an expert in construction and design and was active in Berlin beginning in 1900. Among his best-known works are the Krolloper, the Hebbel Theater and the , ...

, with integrated sculpture by

Franz Metzner Franz Metzner (18 November 1870, Wscherau, near Plzeň – 24 March 1919, Berlin) was an influential German sculptor, particularly his sculptural figures integrated into the architecture of Central European public buildings in the Art Nouveau / ...

. It opened on December 30, 1914 and has its origin in an organization known as the "Freie Volksbühne" ("Free People's Theater") founded in 1890 by

Bruno Wille Bruno Wille (6 February 186031 August 1928) was a German politician, writer and journalist. He was born in Magdeburg, and died in Aeschach near Lindau. He tried to make an end to the collective ideology of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

and Wilhelm Bölsche, which sketched out the vision for a theater "of the people" in 1892. The goal of the organization was to promote the naturalist

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

of the day at prices accessible to the common worker. The original slogan inscribed on the edifice was "Die Kunst dem Volke" ("Art to the people"). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the theatre was heavily damaged like much of the rest of Berlin. From 1950 to 1954, it was rebuilt according to the design of architect Hans Richter.

Frank Castorf Frank Castorf (born 17 July 1951 in East Berlin) is a German theater director and was the artistic director of the ''Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz'' from 1992 to 2015. His work is often associated with postdramatic theatre. Biography E ...

became director in 1992. During his 25-year tenure, through mid 2017, the theater's ambitious, experimental productions, brought it worldwide recognition as a leading European venue. In 2015 the City of Berlin announced that Castorf would be replaced by Chris Dercon in 2017, who himself resigned in April 2018 after what was considered by many to have been a commercially and artistically weak period for the theater. Left-wing activists occupied the theater in September 2017. René Pollesch was appointed to be a new director from 2021.

References

External links

Official Volksbühne website
Theatres in Berlin Buildings and structures in Berlin Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin {{Berlin-struct-stub