The Hamburg Enterprise (german: Hamburgische Entreprise), commonly known as the Hamburg National Theatre, was a

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

(now

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 ...

), that existed 1767–1769 at the Gänsemarkt square, and that was led by

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the dev ...

. It was the first attempt to establish a national theatre in Germany. It was modelled after

Det Kongelige Teater The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first se ...

, founded by

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

in Denmark in 1748. Its leading actor was

Konrad Ekhof Konrad Ekhof (12 August 1720 in Hamburg, Germany – 16 June 1778) was a German actor, widely regarded as one of the foremost actors of the German-speaking realm in the 18th century. He was noted for his collaboration with the theatre principal ...

and the theatre employed Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as the world's first

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

; Lessing's influential ''

Hamburg Dramaturgy The ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' (german: Hamburgische Dramaturgie) is a highly influential work on drama by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written between 1767 and 1769 when he worked as a dramaturg for Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. It was not or ...

'', based on his work at the Hamburg National Theatre, defined the new field of dramaturgy and also introduced the term.Luckhurst, Mary (2006). ''Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 24. The theatre premiered Lessing's ''

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 – ...

'' on 30 September 1767. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The Hamburg National Theatre was mainly owned and led by the former banker

, who invested much of his remaining fortune in the enterprise after suffering "a sensational bankruptcy for an enormous sum" shortly before. The Hamburg National Theatre had to close in 1769 when Seyler's money had run out after two years of lavish spending. The enterprise was effectively succeeded by the

Seyler Theatre Company The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzer ...

. Seyler would also later retain the vision of a "national theatre" during his work in Mannheim.

References

Literature

*Roger Bauer, Jürgen Wertheimer: Das Ende des Stegreifspiels, die Geburt des Nationaltheaters. Ein Wendepunkt der Geschichte des europäischen Dramas. München: Fink 1983. Theatres in Hamburg Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte 1767 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1769 disestablishments {{Germany-theat-stub