The Staatstheater Cottbus is the only state theatre of the German federal state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

. It has its own ensemble presenting plays,

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l concerts and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. The theatre had more than 130.000 spectators in 2013.

History

The theatre was built on demand by the citizens of Cottbus, a town flourishing around 1900 due to

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

. The town assembly decided on 1 November 1905 to build a municipal theatre (Stadttheater) and held a competition. The commission was given to

Bernhard Sehring Ernst Bernhard Sehring (1 June 1855 in Edderitz, Anhalt – 27 December 1941) was a German architect. Life Sehring came from a petty-bourgeois village background and was the son of a Dessau construction foreman. He was boarded by Professor Ha ...

, who had built the 1896

Theater des Westens The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and ded ...

in Berlin. In the Cottbus building, he combined architecture, crafts, painting and sculpture in

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

. The theatre was built in only 16 months, and opened on 1 October 1908 with a performance of Lessing's ''

Minna von Barnhelm ''Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness'' (, ) is a ''lustspiel'' or comedy by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It has five acts, was begun in 1763 and completed in 1767 – its author put the year 1763 on the official title ...

''. The first Intendant, , established to present a month of operas at the end of a season, because the theatre had no opera ensemble yet. From 1912, the new director established an orchestra and opera ensemble. In 1992, the management of the theatre went from the town of Cottbus to the state. became Intendant in 1993.Stephan Märki wird Intendant in Cottbus
nachtkritik.de 17 April 2019, retrieved 21 April 2019.

Film

*''So ein Theater! 100 Jahre Theater Cottbus'', documentary, 45 min, moderation:

Uwe Kockisch Uwe Kockisch (born 31 January 1944, in Cottbus, Germany) is a German stage, screen and television actor. Career Kockisch completed his training to become an actor at the Ernst Busch Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, Academy of Dramatic Arts i ...

, production: rbb, first aired on 1 October 2008

References

External links

* * {{authority control Buildings and structures in Cottbus 1900s architecture