Regentenbau (Bad Kissingen)

The ''Regentenbau'' (German for "regent's building") is a German concert hall in the town Bad Kissingen in Bavaria.

History

The concert hall was built from 1911 to 1913 in a neo-baroque style according to the plans of the architect Max Littmann. Prince regent Luitpold of Bavaria commissioned the construction of the ''Regentenbau''. The building was inauguratet by his son and successor Ludwig III of Bavaria on 15 and 16 May 1913. The owner is the state of Bavaria. The ''Regentenbau'' is under monument protection and is registered under the number D-6-72-114-38.

Situated between the ''Kurgarten'' (spa garden) and the river ''Fränkische Saale'', the ''Regentenbau'' completed the spa area of Bad Kissingen. It was the conclusion of the comprehensive building contract in the royal spa, which Luitpold of Bavaria had given in 1905 to Max Littmann as "special commissioner for the state's new buildings in the royal spa garden". This order, for which the Bavarian government released funding in 1910, included also the construction of the ''Wandelhalle'' (promenade hall) and the renovation and structural integration of the older ''Arkadenbau'' of Friedrich von Gärtner, a 200-meter-long arcade building from 1838 with its hall ''Conversationssaal'' (today ''Rossini-Saal''), to the ''Regentenbau''.

From the opening until 1918 the Vienna Symphony as the saisonal spa orchestra performed its evening concerts at the ''Regentenbau''. The Munich Philharmonic followed from 1919 to 1942. Then musical life ended because of the Second World War. After the war the ''Regentenbau'' was occupied by the American troops for two years. Musical life started again in 1950 with the Hofer Symphoniker (until 1979). Since 1986 the ''Regentenbau'' is the main location of the festival Kissinger Sommer.

From 2003 to 2005 the ''Regentenbau'' was completely renovatet.

The halls

Max-Littmann-Saal (Max Littmann Hall)

The ''Max-Littmann-Saal'' was originally called ''Großer Saal'' (Great Hall). After the end of renovation in 2005 it was officially renamed after the architect Max Littmann. The hall of about 455 square meters is 36 meters long, 16 meters high and is surrounded by a large U-shaped gallery. In the case of row seating, the hall accommodates a maximum of 1,160 guests, in the parquet about 660 and on the gallery about 500 seats. It is used for concerts, but also for conferences. Experts count it to the best concert halls of the world. The paneling of cherry-wood gives the hall, which is of the “shoebox type”, a much acclaimed acoustics. Behind the panelling a gap of five to ten centimeters to the wall acts as resonance space. Measurements during the renovation of 2005 brought reverberation times of 1.1 to 1.8 seconds. These acoustics are similar to the Boston Symphony Hall or the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. So the ''Max-Littmann-Saal'' often was used for recordings of classical music. In the recent past the Philharmonie Festiva and the conductor Gerd Schaller produced CD recordings of symphonic works of Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, and Franz Schubert, as well as the first recordings of the opera '' Merlin'' by Carl Goldmark and the Great Mass by Johann Ritter von Herbeck. Many concerts of the Kissinger Sommer are recorded in the ''Max-Littmann-Saal'' by the public broadcasting company Bayerischer Rundfunk. The hall is connected to the neighbouring halls ''Grüner Saal'' and ''Weißer Saal'' by big foldable doors, which make it possible to enlarge the capacity of the ''Max-Littmann-Saal''.

Grüner Saal (Green Hall)

The hall in art nouveau style was thought to be a room for chamber music. It is 21 metters long and 8,5 meters wide and has 120 seats.

Weißer Saal (White Hall)

The hall in rokoko style of about 150 square meters and a capacity 100 places is also used for small concerts. On one side it is connected to the Littmann-Saal with three-meters-high mirror doors, while glass doors lead to the ''Schmuckhof'' on the other side.

Schmuckhof (Courtyard)

The ''Schmuckhof'', built in the neo-baroque style, is a small inner courtyard between the White Hall, the 150 square meter ''Salon am Schmuckhof'' (110 people in rows) and the adjacent reading rooms. It leads to foyer of the ''Rossini-Saal''.

Rossini-Saal (Rossini-Hall)

Littmann transformed the old ''Conversationssaal'' (Conversation Hall) of Friedrich von Gärtner and created an additional stage. It is also used for smaller concerts. 280 people can sit in the hall with its 330 square meters. After the general renovation around the year 2000 the hall was renamed ''Rossini-Saal'' after the composer Gioachino Rossini, who has visited Bad Kissingen as a spa guest in 1856.

Bibliography

* Max Littmann: ''Die neuen staatlichen Bauten in Bad Kissingen.'' In ''Deutsche Bauzeitung'', 47. year of issue 1913, No. 39 (vom 14. Mai 1913), pp. 349f. (and following numbers)
* ''Das neue Kurhaus in Kissingen. Architekt Geh. Hofrat Prof. Max Littmann in München.'' In ''Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung'', 33. year of issue 1913, No. 45 (of 7. Juni 1913), p. 293f.
* Rolf Bothe (Hrsg.): ''Kurstädte in Deutschland. Zur Geschichte einer Baugattung.'' Frölich & Kaufmann, Berlin 1984, , S. 93f.
* Cornelia Oelwein: "Max Littmann (1862-1931). Architekt, Baukünstler, Unternehmer". Sonderpublikation des Stadtarchivs Bad Kissingen, Band 7. Michael Imhof Verlag, 2013,

External links

Official Website of Bad Kissingen

References

{{Authority control

Concert halls in Germany
Architecture in Germany
Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria
Bad Kissingen