The ''Volkstheater Millowitsch'', also known as the ''Millowitsch-Theater'', was a medium-sized

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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 ...

where popular, low-brow

comedies Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

were performed.

History

The Millowitsch family had been active in theatre before ownership of this building with a tradition dating back to 1792. With the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and the ensuing inflation,

Peter Millowitsch Peter Millowitsch is a German film and television actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the thea ...

was forced to abandon the family’s old theatre and tour

and the surrounding area, until in 1936 they finally moved into the new theatre in ''Aachener Straße''. In 1940

Willy Millowitsch Willy Millowitsch (, ; 8 January 1909 – 20 September 1999) was a German stage and TV actor and the director of the ''Volkstheater Millowitsch'' in Cologne. Early life Millowitsch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province. His parents were Peter a ...

took charge of the theatre. During

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 ...

it was damaged, but not too severely, so on September 16, 1945, the theatre was reopened. In the time from 1945–1949 there were daily performances in the theatre, but afterwards the attendance dropped and Millowitsch had to rent out the theatre sometimes. Fortunately, the building doubled as a

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

, so he could still make money with it. The first live broadcast of a theatrical performance in front of a real audience on German television took place in this theatre. On October 27, 1953

’s Kölsch dialect play ''

Der Etappenhas Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

'' was broadcast on the Western regional channel

WDR WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signalli ...

. It was immensely successful and just six weeks later was broadcast again, live, from the ''Millowitsch-Theater''. Over the course of the years, over one hundred performances from the ''Volkstheater Millowitsch'' were shown on television. The television plays spawned interest in theatre and the audiences gradually grew and by the 1960s a steady flow of people were teeming in to see Millowitsch’s plays firsthand. He renovated the building in 1967 and the Volkstheater once again became a focal point of local culture. Changing his original concept, Millowitsch turned the theatre from a house just for plays into a venue for local performances of all kinds. Many young dialect artists started their careers there, including the now famous singing groups

Bläck Fööss The Bläck Fööss ( ) are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. From 1973 to 2003 Werner Dies was producer of the music group. Name of the band The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group pr ...

and

Höhner De Höhner (; ) is a band from Cologne, Germany, singing in the local Kölsch dialect. The group was founded in 1972 by Peter Werner and Janus Fröhlich. During their first year, the band wore chicken costumes, and threw real feathers into the au ...

. In 1998 only few months before

’s death in 1999, his son

took over the running of the establishment.

Location

The ''Millowitsch-Theater'' is located at ''Aachener Straße'' 5, near the Hahnentor and ''Rudolfplatz'' in the centre of

, just by the

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line. It is a medium-sized theatre that can seat up to 383 people. Ticket prices usually range from €19 – €24.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Theatres in Cologne