The Volkstheater in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(roughly translated as "People's Theatre") was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, amongst them the dramatist

Ludwig Anzengruber Ludwig Anzengruber (29 November 1839 – 10 December 1889) was an Austrian dramatist, novelist and poet. He was born and died in Vienna, Austria. Origins The Anzengruber line originated in the district of Ried im Innkreis in Upper Austria. Lu ...

and the furniture manufacturer

Thonet Thonet is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anne Bonnet, née Thonet (1908–1960), Belgian painter * Michael Thonet (1796–1871), German–Austrian cabinet maker ** Gebrüder Thonet Gebrüder Thonet or the Thonet Brothers w ...

, in order to offer a popular counter weight to the '' Hofburgtheater''. It was erected according to designs by

Ferdinand Fellner Ferdinand Fellner (19 April 1847 – 22 March 1916) was an Austrian architect. Biography Fellner joined his ailing father's architecture firm at the age of nineteen. After his death he founded the architecture studio Fellner & Helmer together w ...

and Hermann Helmer, who attempted to reconcile their plans with

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

. It is located in

Neubau Neubau (; Central Bavarian: ''Neibau'') is the seventh district of Vienna (german: 7. Bezirk). It is located near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Neubau is a heavily populated urban area, ...

, the seventh

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Vienna. The founders of this stage had a theatrical stage in mind, in order to expose wider circles of the population of Vienna to classical and modern literature whilst staging these next to more traditional plays. The theatre follows this tradition even today. New productions of the classics are always in the pipeline along with regular reinterpretations of works by Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy and many new plays and reruns. Special attention is given to Austrian playwrights of old and new. In 2005 Michael Schottenberg became art director of the Volkstheater. In 2005 the Volkstheater started an alternative theater stage called "Volkstheater Hundsturm" in Margareten, the fifth district of Vienna. It is a place for experimental theater (e.g.

Wojtek Klemm Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik ...

, Dejan Dukovski, monochrom). The Volkstheater station of lines U2 and U3 of the Vienna U-Bahn is located here.

External links

Volkstheater Wien
(in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

) {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Neubau Theatres in Vienna Fellner & Helmer buildings Theatres completed in 1889 1889 establishments in Austria