Stadttheater Magdeburg
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Stadttheater Magdeburg was the municipal theatre of
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
, Germany. It was opened in 1878, was at times of national importance for operas, and was destroyed during World War II.


History


Building

Between 1873 and 1876, a new municipal theatre was built on the site of the previously demolished fortifications on Kaiserstraße. The client was a
joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
which had been founded specifically for this purpose.
Richard Lucae Richard Lucae (12 April 1829 – 26 November 1877; full name: ''Johannes Theodor Volcmar Richard Lucae'') was a German architect and from 1873 director of the Berliner Bauakademie. Early life Richard Lucae came from an old Berlin pharmacy fami ...
, the director of the
Bauakademie The Bauakademie (Building Academy, also known as the ''Schinkelsche Bauakademie'') in Berlin, Germany, was a higher education institution for the art of building to train master builders. Founded on 18 March 1799 by King Frederick William II ...
, was responsible for the planning. The stage machinery was built by the E. Schwerdtfeger company from
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
, which also worked for Wagner's
Bayreuth Festspielhaus The ''Bayreuth Festspielhaus'' or Bayreuth Festival Theatre (, ) is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, built by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and dedicated solely to the performance of his stage works. It is the venue ...
. The theatre seated 1200 people. The opening took place on 6 May 1876, with Goethe's ''
Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the be ...
''.


Friedrich Schwemer, 1876–1877

The first theater manager (Intendant), and also chief director (Oberregisseur) was Friedrich Schwemer. The theatre was three-part: opera, operetta and plays. The program of the first season was mostly conservative, playing Weber's ''
Der Freischütz ' (Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, J. 277, Opus number, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Johann Fried ...
'', Shakespeare's ''
The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...
'', and Beethoven' ''
Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
'', among others, including a total of 19 operas. The only risk-taking performance was Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's play '' En fallit'', resulting in a financial fiasco. Schwemer had to file bankruptcy and was dismissed.


Ludwig Ubrich, 1877–1882

Ludwig Ubrich tried to run the theatre economically sound, with simpler productions. Efforts were made to have the town take over the theatre.


Adolf Varena, 1882–1891

Adolf Varena staged large productions including works by Wagner, exclusively with the company's own ensemble. In 1890, the town of Magdeburg became the owner of the property, and leased the theatre for 30 years. Mayor became chairman of the administrative committee. In 1891, Varena moved to the
Stadttheater Königsberg For over 200 years, the Stadttheater Königsberg (Königsberg municipal theatre) in Königsberg was one of the most respected theatres in Prussia and in the German Empire. History Forerunner The Königsberg theatre began with carnival games and s ...
in
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, which he directed until his death.


Arno Cabisius, 1891–1907

Arno Cabisius continued the theatre's artistic rise, presenting a production of Wagner's ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...
'' cycle, and a cycle of Mozart operas, gaining national attention and positive press reviews. In 1901, a May Festival was run to celebrate the 25th anniversary. In 1897, the orchestra also became municipal. Cabisius died in March 1907. His widow, Baroness Elisabeth von Fels (1845–1936), whose first marriage was to Prince
Paul von Thurn und Taxis Paul Maximilian Lamoral, Prince of Thurn and Taxis (full German name: ''Paul Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis''; 27 May 1843 – 10 March 1879), was the third child of Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his secon ...
, continued his job until the end of the 1907/08 season.


Carl Coßmann, 1908–1912

Carl Coßmann met financial difficulties, and the theatre declined, partly due to the newly opened Centraltheater. The director of plays, Heinrich Vogeler, gave more prominence to that part. In 1912, bankruptcy was filed.


Heinrich Hagin, 1912–1913

Heinrich Hagin succeeded as director, but never dropped his positions at both the Stadttheater in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
and the Berlin
Kroll Opera House The Kroll Opera House () in Berlin, Germany, was in the Tiergarten district on the western edge of the '' Königsplatz'' square (today ''Platz der Republik''), facing the Reichstag building. It was built in 1844 as an entertainment venue for th ...
, and stayed only for two years.


Heinrich Vogeler, 1913–1930

The former director of play Heinrich Vogeler was offered the position, the first to get a regular salary. cult legacy. His first season, with a focus on operas by Verdi and Wagner, was a success, with guest singers from great opera houses. The beginning of the First World War caused considerable problems. The 2014 season offered many national-conservative plays (''Das eiserne Kreuz'', ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein'' and ''Das Volk in Waffen''), but still works by authors from now hostile countries (Shakespeare, Verdi and Puccini. The plays were replaced a years later by classical plays by Hebbel, Grillparzer and
Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
, but not the
expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
plays performed elsewhere at the same time. Vogeler significantly lowered ticket prices and the number of soloists, because attendance declined. In the summer of 1917, he leased the Viktoriatheater as a second venue, increasing flexibility. The most important artistic event during this period was the first performance of Wagner's ''
Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...
'' at the house in April 1920. The same years, the town of Magdebuurg took over running the theatre, organised as the Städtische Bühnen Magdeburg, including the Viktoria-Theater and the Wilhelm-Theater. Mayor was the chairman of the theatre committee. Vogeler reorganise the parts, playing opera mostly in the main venue. The world economic crisis led to considerable problems. When the town tried to cut its funding, Vogeler who was not ready to lower artistic standards, resigned on 22 January 1930.


Egon Neudegg, 1930–1932

Egon Neudegg was put a special emphasis on operetta, which for the first time formed its own ensemble. It was played at the entral-Theater, now also affiliated to the municipal theatre. Neudegg achieved a short-term increase in audience, but in the long run, it was a financial failure. In 1932, the Centraltheater was separated from the municipal theatre again, and Neudegg resigned.


Hellmuth Götze, 1932–1933

was able to achieve a high artistic level in a few months, and also installed a pricing system leading to economic stability. He ran into conflict with the growing
National Socialist Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...
influence. On the occasion of a performance of Kaiser's play ''
Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, '' G ...
'', Götze was accused by the Nazis of "Bolshevisation". In the Magdeburg elections on 12 March 1933, the NSDAP achieved the absolute majority in the city council.


Fritz Landsittel, 1933

Fritz Landsittel was a NSDAP party member, who finished the season Götze had planned, but cancelling works by Jewish composer
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...
, and forcing Kapellmeister Jean-Siegfried Blumann to leave. Landsittel was dismissed after three months due to human and artistic concerns.


Edgar Klitsch, 1933–1934

, appointed on 11 July, lost quality and importance. Many former employees were no longer allowed to work, others left the town and went to other stages. Klitsch also left Magdeburg at the beginning of 1934 and became director in Königsberg.


Erich Böhlke, 1934–1939

The independent Erich Böhlke was a professional who developed the theatre to one of the most important music centres in Germany. He founded a municipal choir of 300 people. The stage performances were subject to the censure; performance plans had to be approved by Berlin.


Kurt Ehrlich, 1939–1945

In 1939, Kurt Ehrlich, a party and SS member, became director, while Böhlke remained as
Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
. At the beginning of the Second World War, the
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda The Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (, RMVP), also known simply as the Ministry of Propaganda (), controlled the content of the press, literature, visual arts, film, theater, music and radio in Nazi Germany. The ministr ...
announced that the Magdeburg theatre was considered to be of state importance, and that the 1939/40 season was to be held. It was difficult, due to many ensemble members being drafted, and increasing air raid alarms. Only short works were played, beginning already at 6pm. A
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
was built directly in front of the theatre. On 1 September 1944, all German theaters were closed. The last performance after 68 years was Mozart's '' Figaro'' on 31 August 1944. During the later air raids, the main building was badly hit and destroyed.


After 1945

The ruins remained, until they were dynamited in 1958. The stones were partly used for the reconstruction of the , and for other building projects. A park was created on the site. After the 1989
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
, the area was newly developed, with only the new street name "Am Alten Theater" (At the old theatre) reminding of the former municipal theatre.
Theater Magdeburg Theater Magdeburg is the principal theatre organization in Magdeburg, Germany, the capital of the state Saxony-Anhalt. It was formed in 2004 with the merger of two theatres, the Theater der Landeshauptstadt (Theatre of the state capital) and the ' ...
plays at an opera house on Universitätsplatz and a theatre on Otto-v.-Guericke-Straße.


Further reading

* Jürgen Goldammer: ''Theaterruine: Spur der Steine bis Cracau.'' In '' Volksstimme'' dated 19 March 2005. * Friedemann Krusche: ''Theater in Magdeburg.''''Theater in Magdeburg.''
on worldCat
2 volumes. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 1994–1995, and .


References


External links



andreas-praefcke.de {{coord missing, Germany Former theatres in Germany Culture of Saxony-Anhalt Theatres completed in 1876 Buildings and structures demolished in 1944 Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II Buildings and structures in Magdeburg 1944 disestablishments in Germany 1876 establishments in Germany