The Admiralspalast (German for ''admiral palace'') is a theatre on Friedrichstraße in the Mitte district of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The theatre has 1,756 seats. It opened in 1910, built as part of a large leisure complex on the former site of the 1873 ''Admiralsgarten'' bath house. It is one of the city's few preserved pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

era variety venues.

History

As a place of amusement, the Admiralspalast originally included a skating rink, a public bath, bowling alleys, a café and a cinema open day and night. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it changed to a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

theatre, starting with the show ''Drunter und drüber'' by Walter Kollo, later continued by the performance of operettas. As the building suffered little damage from the World War II bombing, it was home to the Berlin State Opera until the reconstruction of the Berlin State Opera House in 1955. On April 21–22, 1946, the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

and the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

in the Soviet occupation zone held a convention at the Admiralspalast where they merged to become the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

. The GDR Union of Journalists had its offices inside the Admiralspalast.Wilke, Jürgen, Julia Martin, Denis Fengler, and Marc Levasier.
Journalisten und Journalismus in der DDR: Berufsorganisation, Westkorrespondenten, "Der schwarze Kanal"
'. Köln: Böhlau, 2007. p. 20 The performance of revues and operettas was continued under the name of until its disestablishment and the closure of the venue in 1997. In 2002, the building, still closed, was listed as a protected cultural landmark by the Berlin Senate. It was taken over by successful bidders in 2003, who carried out extensive renovations. On August 11, 2006, it reopened with ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'', directed by Klaus Maria Brandauer.

References

External links

* Theatres in Berlin Theatres completed in 1910 1910 establishments in Germany {{opera-struct-stub