The Altes Theater was the first theatre building in the German city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. It was on the site of today's tramway station Goerdelerring near Richard-Wagner-Platz.

History

Commissioned by the businessman Benedikt Zehmisch in 1766 from the architect Georg Rudolph Fäsch (1710–1787), it was at first called the ''Theater auf der Rannischen Bastei'' and sited on the foundations of a bastion on the city wall. It had three tiers of seating and boxes, with a capacity of 1186 standing and seated. It opened on 7 October 1766 with the tragedy ''Hermann'' by

Johann Elias Schlegel Johann Elias Schlegel (January 17, 1719 – August 13, 1749) was a German critic and dramatic poet. Life Schlegel was born in Meissen. He was educated at Schulpforta and at the University of Leipzig, where he studied law. In 1743 he became p ...

, a ballet and a comedy - the audience included

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

. In 1768

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...

put on his play ''

Minna von Barnhelm ''Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness'' (german: Minna von Barnhelm oder das Soldatenglück, ) is a ''lustspiel'' or comedy by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It has five acts, was begun in 1763 and completed in 1767 – ...

'' there.

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

also sang there. The building was renovated and extended in 1796 and 1802 and finally converted to the classical style in 1817 by

Friedrich Weinbrenner Friedrich Weinbrenner (24 November 1766 – 1 March 1826) was a German architect and city planner admired for his mastery of classical style. Birth and education Weinbrenner was born in Karlsruhe, and began his career apprenticed to his father, ...

and the university's chief-of-works

Carl August Benjamin Siegel Carl August Benjamin Siegel (27 April 1757, Dresden – 15 October 1832, Dresden) was a German architecture professor and chief of works, active in Leipzig and Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drje ...

. It reopened in 1817 as the ''Theater der Stadt Leipzig'' and its 1828-29 season saw the premieres of

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.

's ''

Der Vampyr '' Der Vampyr '' (''The Vampire'') is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (Marschner's brother-in-law) is based on the play ''Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut'' (1821) by Heinrich Lud ...

'' and ''

Der Templer und die Jüdin ''Der Templer und die Jüdin '' (English: ''The Templar and the Jewess'') is an opera (designated as a '' Große romantische Oper'') in three acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück was based on a number of int ...

''. From 1829 to 1832 it served as the court theatre for the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

before passing into private hands. After the Neues Theater was built in 1868, the theatre was renamed the ''Altes Theater'' and used only for plays and operettas. From 1912 onwards it was again operated by the city council. On 7 December 1912 it hosted the world premiere of the 6-scene play ''Peterchens Mondfahrt'' by Gerdt von Bassewitz, who turned it into an illustrated children's book in 1915. On 8 December 1923 it also saw the world premiere of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's drama ''

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...

'', causing a scandal which led the mayor to cancel the rest of its run. The building was destroyed by a British air raid on the night of 3–4 December 1943 and the ruins demolished after the war.

Sources

*http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/1923/index.html {{Coord, 51, 20, 38, N, 12, 22, 20, E, region:DE-SN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Former theatres in Germany 1766 establishments in Europe 1943 disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Leipzig Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II