The Kurtheater Bad Kissingen is a theatre in the spa town

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen () is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and County town, seat of the Bad Kissingen (district), district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale, Franconia ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 ...

History

The theatre was built in 1904 by the Munich architect

Max Littmann Max Littmann (3 January 1862 - 20 September 1931) was a German architect. Education Littmann was educated in the Chemnitz University of Technology and the Dresden University of Technology. In 1885, he moved to Munich where he met Friedrich ...

in the neo baroque style and inaugurated on 25 June 1905 with a performance of the opera

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs but it is his 1892 opera ''Pagliacci'' that remained his lasting co ...

. The theatre with its 538 seats replaced an older wooden theatre building in swiss style of 1856. The theatre was initially operated by the spa administration (Badkommissariat). The duty of the theatre was to entertain the visitors of the spa. The old theatre had no longer corresponded to the increased demands of the world bath. From 1871 onwards, the theatre was rented to Eduard Reimann, director of the theatre of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

,. This made it possible to employ the ensemble of Würzburg during the summer months. After his death in 1898 his son, the actor Otto Reimann, became his successor. Otto Reimann continued his successful performance with his own ensemble in the new theatre. Despite the difficulties of the First World War, inflation, the global economic crisis, or the emergence of national socialism, the theatre business remained at a high level to entertain the spa guests. On the 9th of August, 1941, however, the now 71-year-old Otto Reimann ended his performance in Bad Kissingen with the operetta

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

. Afterwards during the

Second World War 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 ...

the theatre was used only sporadically. In 1945 the theatre was confiscatet by the American troops. In 1949 the theatre restarted its operations. But the theatre did not get an own ensemble any more. Now it is dependent on guest performances.Thomas Ahnert: ''Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten. Das Kissinger Kurtheater.'' In: Thomas Ahnert, Peter Weidisch (Hrsg.): ''1200 Jahre Bad Kissingen 801-2001. Facetten einer Stadtgeschichte.'' Sonderpublikation des Stadtarchivs Bad Kissingen, Verlag T. A. Schachenmayer, Bad Kissingen 2001, , Seite 329f.

Literature

Jakob Heilmann Jakob Heilmann (21 August 1846 in Geiselbach, Aschaffenburg County (Lower Franconia) – 15 February 1927 in Munich) was a German contractor. Son of a glazier, Heilmann attended the construction school in Munich and graduated with the exam as a ...

: ''Das Königliche Theater in Bad Kissingen'', Firmenschrift (39 Seiten), Heilmann & Littmann GmbH (Hrsg.), Bruckmann Druck, München 1905 *

Georg Dehio Georg Gottfried Julius Dehio (22 November 1850 – 21 March 1932), was a Baltic German art historian. In 1900, Dehio started the "''Handbuch der deutschen Kunstgeschichte''" (Handbook of German Art History), published by Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, ...

: ''Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Bayern I: Franken: Die Regierungsbezirke Oberfranken, Mittelfranken und Unterfranken: BD I'',

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and bu ...

München Berlin, 2., durchgesehene und ergänzte Auflage, 1999, S. 71 * Thomas Ahnert: ''Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten. Das Kissinger Kurtheater.'' In: Thomas Ahnert, Peter Weidisch (Hrsg.): ''1200 Jahre Bad Kissingen 801-2001. Facetten einer Stadtgeschichte.'' Sonderpublikation des Stadtarchivs Bad Kissingen, Verlag T. A. Schachenmayer, Bad Kissingen 2001, , Seite 329f. * Edi Hahn: ''Eine Stadtführung.'' Rotter, Bad Neustadt (Saale) 1991, , Seite 31f. * Walter Mahr: ''Geschichte der Stadt Bad Kissingen.'' Bad Kissingen 1959 * Adina Christine Rösch: ''Das Königliche Theater in Bad Kissingen von Max Littmann (1904/05)'', Magisterarbeit, Nürnberg 2007 * Sigismund von Dobschütz: ''Die große Bühne zwischen Stuckaturen und Seidentapeten'', in: ''Kulturkalender für den Landkreis Bad Kissingen'', Februar-April 2015, S. 7–10 * Werner Eberth: ''Das Kurtheater im Bade Kissingen'', zwei Bände, 2015

References

{{Authority control Theatres in Bavaria Bad Kissingen