Staatstheater, Kassel, Alemania, 2013-10-19, DD 01

The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated theater in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

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 ...

History

A permanent theatre house existed in Kassel during the first decade of the 17th century. It stood immediately next to the Ottoneum near the State Theatre which is now used as a Natural History Museum and is considered one of the oldest of its kind north of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. Further buildings were constructed for use as public theatre venues, and in the 18th century the opera house was erected on Königsstraße, in which the singer Elisabeth Mara staged her first success and which was conducted by

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

. On the orders of the German emperor

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

, a theatre was built in 1909 possessing one of the largest stages in the country and seating for an audience of over 1,450. The building was heavily damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The architectural competition for a replacement was won by

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...

but his ideas were not implemented – instead, the plans of architects Paul Bode and Ernst Brunding were realized; construction finished in 1959 (the competition models are on display at the Kassel City Museum). In 1989 an additional auditorium with 99 seats, the studio stage TIF – ''Theater im Fridericianum'' (Kassel), was erected. The state theatre's orchestra has one of Germany's longest traditions, having been mentioned as Court Orchestra as early as 1502.

Operation

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F007141-0003, Kassel, Staatstheater

Performances take place almost daily, and each year around 30 pieces of various genres are presented. The theatre employs around 500 people including general director

Thomas Bockelmann Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(since 2004) and Johannes Wieland, artistic director and choreographer of the theatre's dance company (since 2006). The opera house has 953 seats, the Playhouse Theatre 540 seats and the Fridericianum 99 seats. With its total number of 1,592 seats, the theater recorded around 227,000 attendances in the 2008/09 season.

External links

Official Website of the Staatstheater Kassel
German opera companies Opera houses in Germany Theatre companies in Germany Theatres completed in 1909 Theatres completed in 1959 {{Germany-theat-stub