The Admiralspalast (German for ''admiral palace'') is a 1,756-seat theatre on
Friedrichstraße
The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern pa ...
in the
Mitte district of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Opened in 1910, it is one of the few preserved
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
venues of the pre-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
era in the city.
As a place of amusement the Admiralspalast originally included a skating rink, a public bath, bowling alleys, a café and a cinema open day and night. After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
it changed to a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...
theatre, starting with the show ''Drunter und drüber'' by
Walter Kollo
Walter Kollo (28 January 1878 – 30 September 1940) was a German composer of operettas, Possen mit Gesang, and Singspiele as well as popular songs. He was also a conductor and a music publisher.
Kollo was born in Neidenburg, East Prussia. ...
, later continued by the performance of
operettas.
As the building suffered little damage from
World War II bombing, it was home to the
Berlin State Opera
The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
until the reconstruction of the Berlin State Opera house in 1955. On April 21–22 1946, the
Social Democratic Party of Germany and the
Communist Party of Germany in the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
held a convention at the Admiralspalast where they
merged to become the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
. The performance of revues and operettas were continued under the name of until its disestablishment in 1997.
The
GDR Union of Journalists had its offices inside the Admiralspalast.
[Wilke, Jürgen, Julia Martin, Denis Fengler, and Marc Levasier. ]
Journalisten und Journalismus in der DDR: Berufsorganisation, Westkorrespondenten, "Der schwarze Kanal"
'. Köln: Böhlau, 2007. p. 20
On August 11, 2006, it reopened with ''
The Threepenny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...
'', directed by
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.
Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in ''The Russia House'' (1990), ''Mephisto'' ...
.
References
External links
*
Theatres in Berlin
Theatres completed in 1910
1910 establishments in Germany
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