The National Theatre of Pécs is the main theatre of

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

History

Theatrical plays became a regular attraction in the city from the beginning of the 19th century in German and Hungarian language. Most often they were arranged in larger dancing halls, inns, the small stage of Tettye or the Elefánt-house Inn. While being continuously planned from 1815 onwards, the first theatre opened only in 1840 in the Mária street. Demolished in 1890, only a sketch of the facade remained from this building. To meet the demand for a high-quality structure, the city council set up a committee, led by mayor János Aidinger to coordinate the planning. The design competition of 1890 was won by

Adolf Lang Adolf Láng (born Adolf Lang; 15 June 1848 – 2 May 1913), was a Hungarian-German architect, one of the main representatives of the historicist style during the late 1900s. Career Lang studied in Vienna and from 1870 became the director of ...

and Adolf Steinhardt, who, in cooperation with the renowned Fellner-Helmer duo, and 10 000 Ft granted by the county council, started the construction. The premiere was held on 5 October 1895 with the play ''

Bánk bán ''Bánk bán'' is an opera in 3 acts by composer Ferenc Erkel. The work uses a Hungarian-language libretto by Béni Egressy which is based on a stage play of the same name by József Katona. (''Bán'' is Ban (title), ban in English, similar to a v ...

''. The theatre became nationalized between 1949 and 1989. The chamber theatre was opened, which was transformed to a children's theatre from 1965. After the theatre building's deterioration worsened in the middle of the 1980s, a 5 year long reconstruction started in 1986, equipping the theatre with a modern orchestra pit and new machinery.

Sources

*Győző, Bezerédy. Száz pécsi évad : a Pécsi Nemzeti Színház száz éve. Pécs : Baranya Megyei Könyvtár, 1995.

National Theatre of Pécs in the Hungarian Theatrical Lexicon (György, Székely. Magyar Színházmuvészeti Lexikon. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994. ), freely available on mek.oszk.hu

External links

Official website of the National Theatre of Pécs

Panoramic view of the front of the theatre on virtualpecs.hu
Theatres in Pécs Buildings and structures in Pécs Tourist attractions in Pécs {{Europe-theat-struct-stub