The Staatstheater Meiningen (State Theatre Meiningen), also called the Meiningen Theatre, is a four-division theater in the

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

n town of

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

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 ...

. The theater was founded in 1831 and was called ″Meininger Hoftheater″ (Meiningen Court Theatre) until 1920. The theatre offers music theatre (opera, operetta, musicals), drama, concerts and puppet theatre. The programme is further enhanced by the inclusion of ballet performances produced and performed by Landestheater

Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...

. The orchestra affiliated with the theatre is the Meininger Hofkapelle ( Meiningen Court Orchestra). Until 2017, the theatre operated as "Südthüringisches Staatstheater" (South Thuringian State Theatre) before changing its name to "Meininger Staatstheater" (Meiningen State Theatre) and 2021 to ″Staatstheater Meiningen″ (State Theatre Meiningen). It is jointly funded by the state, city and county of Schmalkalden-Meiningen under the umbrella of the Cultural Foundation Meiningen-Eisenach, Thuringia. Meiningen is the birthplace of the modern director's theatre which was famously promoted by the theatre's acting ensemble - dubbed as "Die Meininger" – under the direction of Duke George II during guest appearances throughout Europe in the years 1874 to 1890. They also say: ''no Hollywood without Meiningen''. Between 1880 and 1914, the Meininger Hofkapelle was conducted by

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

, Wilhelm Berger and

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

and as a guest by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. To this day, this tradition, its history and further successes has secured the Meininger Theater a special place in the theatre world. The theater is so important for the city that Meiningen is also called a "Theaterstadt" (theater city).

References

External links

State Theatre Meiningen
website Culture in Meiningen Theatres in Germany Buildings and structures in Thuringia Organisations based in Thuringia Saxe-Meiningen {{Germany-theat-struct-stub