The Bad Hersfelder Festspiele is a German

theatre festival Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, called the City Dionysia. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts ...

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. The ''Bad Hersfelder Festspiele'' have been staged since 1951.

The Festival

The ''Bad Hersfeld Festival'' takes place every year from mid-June to early August in the German town of

. It is known as the ''

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

of the North''. hersfeld_schloss_eichhof

Theatrical pieces and musicals are performed on the 1,400 m² stage in the ''Stiftsruine Bad Hersfeld''. There is padded seating for 1636 spectators. The mobile roof above the auditorium of the monastery ruins makes performances in all weather conditions possible — visitors always sit in the dry. Comedy plays are performed on an outdoor stage in the courtyard of the ''Eichhof Castle''. At the Festival the

Hersfeld-Preis The Hersfeld-Preis is an award for an actor. It has been awarded annually since 1962 as part of the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele of the ''Gesellschaft der Freunde der Stiftsruine'' and the city of Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersf ...

and an audience prize are awarded annually. The prize is based on audience ballots taken in three performances of each show. The winner receives a ring donated by local companies, showing the ''

Schwurhand The ''Schwurhand'' (, " swear-hand"; ) is a heraldic charge depicting the hand gesture that is used in Germanic Europe and neighboring countries, when swearing an oath in court, in office or in swearing-in. The right hand is raised, with the in ...

'' of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

against the abbey ruins in the background.''Publikumspreis hat hohen Wert''.
In: ''Hersfelder Zeitung'', Onlineangebot

Literature

''Bad Hersfelder Festspiele.''
In: Rolf Hosfeld: ''Festivals 2007/2008: Klassik, Oper, Jazz, Tanz, Theater, Film, Literatur, Kunst - Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz.'', Helmut Metz Verlag, 2007, P. 261

External links

Homepage of the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele

Homepage of the Opernfestspiele

References

Theatre festivals in Germany Tourist attractions in Hesse {{Germany-festival-stub