Altes Theater (the old theatre) was the first theatre building in the German city of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. It was on the site of today's tramway station

Goerdelerring Goerdelerring is a street and major tram interchange station in Leipzig, Germany. It is named after Carl Friedrich Goerdeler. The street The street ''Goerdelerring'' is part of the Inner City Ring Road (Leipzig), inner city ring road of Leipzi ...

near Richard-Wagner-Platz.

History

Commissioned by the businessman Benedikt Zehmisch in 1766 from the architect Georg Rudolph Fäsch (1710–1787), it was at first called the ''Theater auf der Rannischen Bastei'' and sited on the foundations of a bastion on the city wall. It had three tiers of seating and boxes, with a capacity of 1186 standing and seated. It opened on 7 October 1766 with the tragedy ''Hermann'' by

Johann Elias Schlegel Johann Elias Schlegel (January 17, 1719 – August 13, 1749) was a German critic and dramatic poet. Life Schlegel was born in Meissen. He was educated at Schulpforta and at the University of Leipzig, where he studied law. In 1743 he became p ...

, a ballet and a comedy – the audience included

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

. In 1768

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

put on his play '' Minna von Barnhelm'' there.

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conducting, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet ...

also sang there. The building was renovated and extended in 1796 and 1802 and finally converted to the classical style in 1817 by Friedrich Weinbrenner and the university's chief-of-works Carl August Benjamin Siegel. It reopened in 1817 as the ''Theater der Stadt Leipzig'' and its 1828–29 season saw the premieres of

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.Der Vampyr'' and '' Der Templer und die Jüdin''. From 1829 to 1832 it served as the court theatre for the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

before passing into private hands. After the Neues Theater was built in 1868, the theatre was renamed the ''Altes Theater'' and used only for plays and operettas. From 1912 onwards it was again operated by the city council. On 7 December 1912, it hosted the world premiere of the 6-scene play ''Peterchens Mondfahrt'' by Gerdt von Bassewitz, who turned it into an illustrated children's book in 1915. On 8 December 1923 it also saw the world premiere of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's drama ''

Baal Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...

'', causing a scandal which led the mayor to cancel the rest of its run. The building was destroyed by a British air raid on the night of 3–4 December 1943 and the ruins demolished after the war.

Sources

* *

External links

* {{Coord, 51, 20, 38, N, 12, 22, 20, E, region:DE-SN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Former theatres in Germany 1766 establishments in Europe 1943 disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Leipzig Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II

History

See also

Sources

External links