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The Heidelberg Thingstätte is an open-air theatre on the
Heiligenberg Heiligenberg is a municipality and a village in the Bodensee (district), Bodensee district in Baden-Württemberg, about seven kilometres north of Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Salem, in Germany. Location and climate Heiligenberg (literally: the H ...
in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
,
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It was built during the
Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
for performances and events as part of the Thingspiel movement. Until 2018, it was primarily used for unofficial
Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...
celebrations. It is a protected cultural monument.


Third Reich

The Heiligenberg theatre is one of the official ''Thingstätten'' or ''Thingplätze'' built in the first part of the Nazi era as part of the Thingspiel movement. It is in the form of an egg-shaped
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...
and has a capacity of approximately 8,000 seats or 15,000 standees. The architect was Hermann Alker. The original design was to seat 10,300 people with room for an additional 20,000 standees and include a dance ring behind the stage; work began in late April 1934 and was to have been completed in July, but paused and resumed on the reduced plan, and the facility was completed in June 1935 and dedicated on the 22nd of that month.Rainer Stommer, ''Die inszenierte Volksgemeinschaft: die "Thing-Bewegung" im Dritten Reich'', Marburg: Jonas, 1985, , p. 211 . Approximately 20,000 people attended,Maria Stumpf
"Denkmalstag: Dem Himmel am nächsten"
'' Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung'', 7 September 2013 .
and in his address to them
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
spoke of the 'holy mountain' that was the site and characterised the ''Thingstätten'' as "the ''Lagtagen'' tate diets or parliamentsof our time"; he described the theatre as "National Socialism in stone" and compared the construction of ''Thingstätten'' to that of the
autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
s. The opening festivities concluded with a
summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...
celebration during which
Franz Philipp Franz Joseph Philipp (August 24, 1890 – June 2, 1972) was a German Church musician (Germany), church musician and composer. He studied and later taught various instruments including organ, worked as a composer, directed a conservatory, and founde ...
's cantata ''Heiliges Vaterland'' was performed. Originally, the theatre was to have been the venue for the première of
Richard Euringer Richard Euringer (April 4, 1891 – August 29, 1953) was a German writer. Although active starting in the 1920s, he is best known for his later career, in which he was a supporter of the Nazis. His best-known work is probably '' Als Flieger in ...
's ''German Passion 1933'' during the ''Reichsfestspiele'' theatre festival in Heidelberg in 1934; since the theatre was not ready, the performance instead took place in the courtyard of
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle () is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th c ...
. The total cost for building the theatre, including creating parking and access roads and the provision of water and electrical power, appears to have been approximately 600,000  RM, all but 40,000 RM borne by the city. The participation of
Reich Labour Service The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate ...
workers was exaggerated for propaganda purposes; the majority of the work was done by professional builders. In Alker's original plan, there was no artificial amplification: the building at the back of the stage incorporating the actors' dressing rooms was to have formed a high visual barrier which also reflected the sound back at the audience. However, the early ''Thingstätten'', notably that at the
Brandberge The Brandberge is a Naturschutzgebiet, protected natural area in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, in the northwest of Halle (Saale), Halle. It is part of the ''Naturpark Unteres Saaletal'', a protected landscape area which extends along the River Saale from ...
outside Halle, proved not to have the good acoustics of the Greek amphitheatres. The theatre at Heidelberg was therefore built with 8 microphone lines fed by 17 on-stage microphones, and 7 loudspeakers at the edge of the stage and on the stage building, which was lower than originally planned and provided with stairs on either side so that it could serve as additional stage space; for example, the entire theatre could now be surrounded by a line of flag- or torch-bearers. Two towers at the rear of the theatre, at the top of the stands, housed the controls for the sound and for lighting, including a mixing board; the installation made it possible to play sound recordings and pipe in radio broadcasts to the stage as well as to amplify lead actors, who were more important to the ''Thingspiel'' dramas than had originally been envisaged by architects. The plans for the ''Thingstätten'' on the Lorelei rock and at
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
were modified based on this theatre. The ''Thingstätte'' was located in Heidelberg partly as a counterpart to a cemetery of honour for the fallen of the First World War that was created on another peak above the city. Together with the ''Reichsfestspiele'', one of its purposes was to present a picture of Nazi culture to foreign visitors; however, by the time it opened the Thing movement had already begun to fall out of favour, and in summer 1936, the Mayor of Heidelberg announced its renaming from ''Thingstätte'' to ''Feierstätte'' (celebration site).Meinhold Lurz, "Öffentliches Gedächtnis in den Jahren 1945 und 1946", in ''Heidelberg 1945'', ed. Jürgen C. Hess,
Hartmut Lehmann Hartmut Lehmann (born April 29, 1936) is a German historian of modern history who specializes in religious and social history. He is known for his research on Pietism, secularization, religion and nationalism, transatlantic studies and Martin Luthe ...
and Volker Sellin with Detlef Junker and Eike Wolgast, Transatlantische historische Studien 5, Stuttgart: Steiner, 1996, , pp. 231–54
pp. 239–40
.
It was used for the première of
Kurt Heynicke Kurt is a male given name in Germanic languages. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Konrad/Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. Like Conrad, it can also a surname an ...
's ''Der Weg ins Reich'' during the 1935 ''Reichsfestpiele'', and for further dramatic productions and seasonal celebrations until the siting of a
flak tower Flak towers () were large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed by Nazi Germany. "Flak" is short for anti-aircraft gun in German: ''Flugabwehrkanone''. There were a total of 8 flak tower complexes in the cities of Berlin ...
there precluded planned use for a theatrical training programme in 1942.


Postwar

After the war the American occupying forces held jazz concerts at the arena, and in 1947 used it for an
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...
which they invited Germans to attend. As early as 1946 a sports meeting was held there. In 1945 it was renamed ''Heiligenberg-Anlage'' (Heiligenberg facility), but usage gradually returned to the original name of ''Thingstätte''. The site is now municipal property, has been declared a state protected monument, and like the rest of the mountain, is tended by the ''Schutzgemeinschaft Heiligenberg''. Plans to resume use of the theatre for performances have been hindered by the lack of electricity and other services. However, from the late 1980s until 2017 it was unofficially used for annual celebrations of
Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...
, which featured fire-dancers and jugglers and attracted as many as 15,000 people.Steffen Blatt
"Thingstätte: Der Film über eine Party ohne Strom, Licht und Bühne"
''Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung'', 30 April 2014 .
In 2014 David Borymski published a half-hour documentary on the event called ''Fackelkinder'' (torch children). In 2017 a forest fire broke out in the area of the upper ''Philosophenweg'' during the celebration and, in an unrelated event, a 25-year-old man was severely injured on his way down from the Heiligenberg; after an investigation, the City of Heidelberg banned the celebration at the location in following years.
City of Heidelberg, retrieved 13 February 2020
The ''Thingstätte'' was fenced off and police were stationed on the Heiligenberg for the night of 30 April–1 May. In 2014 the city introduced Sunday and holiday bus service to the theatre, and there are plans to fell approximately one third of the trees on the mountain beginning in 2016; some of these have obscured the view of the city from the theatre.Karin Katzenberger-Ruf

''Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung'', 27 August 2014 .


References


Further reading

* Meinhold Lurz. ''Die Heidelberger Thingstätte: die Thingbewegung im Dritten Reich; Kunst als Mittel politischer Propaganda''. Veröffentlichungen zur Heidelberger Altstadt 10. Heidelberg: Kunsthistorisches Institut, 1975. .


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heidelberg Thingstatte Thingplatz Buildings and structures in Heidelberg Theatres completed in 1935 Tourist attractions in Heidelberg