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Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt

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Coordinates: 50°06′29″N 8°40′27″E / 50.10806°N 8.67417°E / 50.10806; 8.67417
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Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt
Location
Leader
Staff1033 (2021/2022)[1]
Websitewww.buehnen-frankfurt.de
Building details
Map
General information
Coordinates50°06′29″N 8°40′27″E / 50.10806°N 8.67417°E / 50.10806; 8.67417
Other information
Seating capacity
  • 1,369 (Opernhaus)[1]
  • 689 (Schauspielhaus)[1]
Public transit access
  • U1 U2 U3 U4 U5 U8 Willy-Brandt-Platz
  • 11, 12, 14, 18 Willy-Brandt-Platz
  • N11, N12, N4, N5, N8 Willy-Brandt-Platz

Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt (lit. 'Municipal stages of Frankfurt') is the municipal theatre company of Frankfurt, the largest city of Hesse Germany. The name dates back to 1919. The company is structured today in two organisations, Oper Frankfurt for opera, and Schauspiel Frankfurt for drama (Schauspiel).

The largest venue for both organisations is their common home, the Opern- und Schauspielhaus at the Willy-Brandt-Platz in the centre of Frankfurt. It was opened in 1963 at the location of the former Schauspielhaus. The Bockenheimer Depot is an external stage for both organisations.

History

[edit]
Historic Schauspielhaus
The building from above
Cloud foyer

Opened in 1782, the Comoedienhaus (comedy house), with a seating capacity of 1,016,[2] was the first permanent venue of theatre in Frankfurt, for both plays and opera.[3] In 1880, an opera house (Opernhaus) was built, with a seating capacity of 2,010.[4] Both sections (Sparten) were organised as the Vereinigte Stadttheater (Common city theatres), headed by general manager (Generalintendant) Emil Claar [de]. In 1902, a Schauspielhaus was opened for plays, designed by Heinrich Seeling in Jugendstil.[5]

From 1919, the name was changed to Städtische Bühnen. Bombing in World War II destroyed the Opernhaus and damaged the Schauspielhaus badly. After the war, performances were held at the hall of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange instead. Based on the ruins of the Schauspielhaus, a new facility was created to provide both plays and operas, and realized in stages completed in 1963.[5][6] The ruin of the Schauspielhaus was restored from 1950 to 1951, as Großes Haus der Städtischen Bühnen. In 1954, planning began for a larger and more modern house, again as a modification of the existing location. Beginning in 1959, per the designs of architectural firm Apel & Beckert,[7] the facade was completely replaced, with some elements of the old house partly retained inside.[5][8]

The new house was decorated by a large painting commissioned from Marc Chagall in 1959, Commedia dell’Arte.[9][10] The ceiling of the foyer which is common for play and opera is decorated with a sculpture by Zoltán Kemény, Goldwolken (golden clouds).[11][12] The house was opened in December 1963.[11]

On 12 November 1987, fire damaged the large hall.[13] During restoration, opera was played in the small hall, while plays were performed at the Bockenheimer Depot. The large hall was back in service in 1991.[13] The opera contains the largest revolving stage in Europe.[14]

The Theater am Turm [de] was part of the Städtische Bühnen from 1995 until it was closed in 2004. Ballett Frankfurt was closed, also in 2004. Its director from 1984, William Forsythe, continued his program with The Forsythe Company from April 2005 to 2015.[15]

In 2020, the glass facade and the golden clouds in the theater foyer were listed as historical monuments.[16][17]

As of 2023, new buildings for the Städtische Bühnen are planned.[18][19] Preferred variant is the Kulturmeile (culture mile), where opera and theatre will have separate buildings.[20]

Organisation

[edit]

Städtische Bühnen was an organisation with one general manager (Generalintendant) until 1972. The artistic sections were then split to Oper Frankfurt and Schauspiel Frankfurt, served by a common technical stage service.[21] Schauspiel Frankfurt was headed in 1972 by Peter Palitzsch who introduced Mitbestimmung (copartnership),[21] supported by city councillor Hilmar Hoffmann,[22] which became the Frankfurter Modell, a model for other theatres such as Theater Bremen.[23]

In 2004, the organisation was changed to an independent GmbH of the city of Frankfurt, with the artistic directors as chief executive officers, as of 2019 Bernd Loebe and Anselm Weber [de].[24]

Map

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Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
50m
55yds
7
6
5
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1

Double System Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt
1
Theatre
2
Opera
3
Cloud Foyer
4
Chagallsaal
5
Holzfoyer
6
Kammerspiel
7
Revolving Stage

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Das Haus". Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Das Frankfurter Comoedienhaus". Frankfurt-Lese (in German). 12 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ Bartetzko, Dieter (2013). "Man will doch nur spielen. Die unendliche Baugeschichte der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Alte Oper Frankfurt". Alte Oper Frankfurt. 23 March 1944. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Alexander, Matthias (21 September 2016). "Das wandelbarste Gebäude der Stadt". FAZ (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  6. ^ Schulze, Rainer (12 September 2016). "Warum Oper und Theater in der Innenstadt bleiben müssen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Hannsgeorg Beckert. Das Verhältnis des Architekten zu Kunst und Künstlern". BAUWELT (in German). 7 November 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  8. ^ "oper frankfurt". klaus roth (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  9. ^ Crüwell, Konstanze (25 September 2008). "Heiterer Farbkosmos für Theaterflaneure". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  10. ^ Klein, Michael; Gerlinger, Lutz. "Commedia dell' Arte". kunst-im-oeffentlichen-raum-frankfurt.de (in German). Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  11. ^ a b Hierholzer, Michael (11 September 2013). "Unter Goldwolken". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  12. ^ Oswalt, Philipp (15 May 2022). Zoltán Kemény (in German). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag. ISBN 978-3-422-98825-5.
  13. ^ a b Göpfert, Claus-Jürgen (5 April 2016). "Wiederaufbau der Oper nach Großfeuer". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  14. ^ Leclerc, Florian (8 January 2019). "Anlagen wie aus dem Technikmuseum". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  15. ^ Crompton, Sarah (7 March 2015). "Elevated visions: how William Forsythe changed the face of dance". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Foyerbau der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". DenkXweb. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Frankfurt: Neubau von Oper und Schauspiel wird 350 Millionen Euro teurer". hessenschau.de (in German). 23 February 2023. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  18. ^ Murr, Günter (27 September 2023). "Neue Argumente gegen Abriss der Städtischen Bühnen". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Wolken unter Denkmalschutz?". German-Architects (in German). Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  20. ^ Trauner, Sandra (15 December 2023). "Frankfurt will "Kulturmeile" für Oper und Theater". neue musikzeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  21. ^ a b Fischer-Lichte, Erika (2017). Tragedy's Endurance: Performances of Greek Tragedies and Cultural Identity in Germany since 1800. Oxford University Press. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-0-19-250650-4. Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  22. ^ Brauneck, Manfred (2016). Die Welt als Bühne: Geschichte des europäischen Theaters (in German). Vol. 5. Springer-Verlag. pp. 329–330. ISBN 978-3-47-600029-3. Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  23. ^ "Theater / Kraft nach innen". Der Spiegel (in German). 21 July 1980. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  24. ^ "Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt". Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt (in German). Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
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