The Staatstheater Meiningen (State Theatre Meiningen), also called the Meiningen Theatre, is a four-division theater in the

Thuringian Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...

town of Meiningen,

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 ...

. The theater was founded in 1831 and was called ″Meininger Hoftheater″ (Meiningen Court Theatre) until 1920. The theatre offers music theatre (opera, operetta, musicals), drama, concerts and puppet theatre. The programme is further enhanced by the inclusion of ballet performances produced and performed by Landestheater

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

. The orchestra affiliated with the theatre is the Meininger Hofkapelle (

Meiningen Court Orchestra The Meiningen Court Orchestra (german: Meininger Hofkapelle) is one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in Europe. Since 1952 the now 68-member orchestra has been affiliated to the Meiningen Court Theatre and in addition to their opera ...

). Until 2017, the theatre operated as "Südthüringisches Staatstheater" (South Thuringian State Theatre) before changing its name to "Meininger Staatstheater" (Meiningen State Theatre) and 2021 to ″Staatstheater Meiningen″ (State Theatre Meiningen). It is jointly funded by the state, city and county of Schmalkalden-Meiningen under the umbrella of the Cultural Foundation Meiningen-Eisenach, Thuringia. Meiningen is the birthplace of the modern director's theatre which was famously promoted by the theatre's acting ensemble - dubbed as "Die Meininger" – under the direction of Duke

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

during guest appearances throughout Europe in the years 1874 to 1890. They also say: ''no Hollywood without Meiningen''. Between 1880 and 1914, the Meininger Hofkapelle was conducted by

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...

, Richard Strauss,

Wilhelm Berger Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (9 August 1861 – 16 January 1911) was a German composer, pianist and conductor. Life Berger's father, originally a merchant from Bremen, worked in Boston (where Berger was born) as a music shopkeeper and made a name for ...

and Max Reger and as a guest by Johannes Brahms. To this day, this tradition, its history and further successes has secured the Meininger Theater a special place in the theatre world. The theater is so important for the city that Meiningen is also called a "Theaterstadt" (theater city).

References

External links

State Theatre Meiningen
website {{Authority control Culture in Meiningen Theatres in Germany