The Landestheater Niederösterreich is a Schauspielhaus in the

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

n provincial capital St. Pölten.

History

In the autumn of 1820, a military prison converted by master builder Josef Schwerdtfeger on today's Rathausplatz was opened as the first permanent theatre in St. Pölten, which also served as a

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

. The first tenant was the theatre entrepreneur Leopold Hoch, who was followed by others. The theatre is mentioned in a guidebook from the

Biedermeier The Biedermeier period was an era in Central European art and culture between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle classes grew in number and artists began producing works appealing to their sensibilities. The period began with the end of th ...

period, the work ' by from 1835: :''The newly built theatre is large enough for the city, may not be unfriendly with its half dozen boxes and its gallery, if it were better illuminated.'' After a closure for financial reasons in the 1847/1848 season, the theatre was sold to the city and thus became a municipal theatre. After the

Ringtheater fire The Ringtheater fire occurred on 8 December 1881, in the popular Vienna, Viennese Ringtheater, named after the road it was located at, the ''Schottenring''. Before the fire, the privately run theater, with capacity for an audience of about 170 ...

in 1881, the house was closed as a theatre due to lack of

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

and from then on was only used as a ballroom. In 1893, the building was completely rebuilt according to plans by ; only the outer walls of the old theatre remained. When the theatre reopened, it had an enlarged stage, an enlarged orchestra room and a total of 500 seats. In the 1927/28 season, the theatre remained closed and was subsequently merged with the theatres in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, Krems and

Bruck an der Leitha Bruck an der Leitha (; "Bridge on the Leitha") is a town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria on the border of Burgenland, marked by the Leitha river. In 2018 it had a population of around 8,000. History In and around Bruck parts of Neolithi ...

to form the Städtebundtheater. After its closure in 1931, it was reopened in 1933, but from 1935 to 1938 it was only a Bespieltheater. During the Second World War, the building was used as SS quarters and storage space and was eventually damaged by bombs, with the roof being destroyed. In 1948, the theatre was able to reopen and resumed acting and musical theatre operations, but in the early days it still had no roof and was thus involuntarily open-air theatre. Between 1966 and 1969, the theatre was again extensively rebuilt and extended according to plans by , which reduced the capacity of the auditorium to 411 seats. However, with the theatre on the rehearsal stage (from 1975 "Studio der Zeit"), the theatre had a second venue until its closure in 1986. In 1996, the theatre was renovated and in 2002 a second venue with 120 seats was added with the ''Theatre Workshop''. From the 1990s the stage was called ''Theatre of the Provincial Capital St. Pölten - Theatre for Lower Austria''. The theatre in its present form has existed since the 2005/06 season. Since then, the theatre, which has now been taken over by the province, has been called ''Landestheater Niederösterreich'', which, as a single-sector theatre, defines itself only by its spoken theatre. The foyer of the main theatre and the theatre café were redesigned in summer 2012 as modern components in the historical ambience of the theatre building.

Honours

* 2011 Isabella Suppanz nominated for the Special Prize of the Award of the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2011 as the Intendant responsible for the upswing of the Landestheater Niederösterreich. * 2012 as Frau Vockerat in ' by

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

nominated for the Award of the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2012 in the category best supporting role. * 2012 ''Lonely People'' by

, directed by nominated for the Nestroy Theatre Award 2012 in the category "best provincial performance". * 2013 as Medea in ''Mamma Medea'' by

Tom Lanoye Tom Lanoye (; born 27 August 1958) is a Belgian novelist, poet, columnist, screenwriter and playwright. He is one of the most widely read and honoured authors in his language area (the Netherlands and Flanders), and makes regular appearances at ...

nominated for the Award of the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2013 in the category "best actress". * 2013 ''Mamma Medea'' by Tom Lanoye, directed by Philipp Hauß nominated for the Nestroy Theatre Award 2013 in the category "best provincial performance". * 2013 Christine Jirku, ensemble member of the Landestheater Niederösterreich, nominated for the

Nestroy Theatre Prize The Nestroy Theatre Prize is an Austrian theatre award named after the poet Johann Nestroy. In 2000, the city of Vienna decided to combine two less noticed theatre awards: the Kainz Medal and the Nestroy Ring for Viennese Satire. The prize honours ...

2013 in the category "Nestroy-ORF III Audience Award". * 2014 ''Meine Mutter, Kleopatra'' by Attila Bartis, directed by Robert Alföldi nominated for the Verleihung des Nestroy-Theaterpreises 2014 in the category "best provincial performance". * 2014 ''Woe to him who lies!'' by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

, directed by Alexander Charim nominated for the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2014 in the category "best performance in the Federal Province". * 2014 as Edrita in ''Woe to him who lies!'' by Franz Grillparzer nominated for the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2014 in the category "best newcomer". * 2015 Special Prize at the Award of the Nestroy Theatre Prize 2015 for ''Glanzstoff'' by at the , Bürgertheater of the Landestheater Niederösterreich. * 2016 Nestroy Theatre Award 2016 - Best Bundesländer Performance for ', staged by Alexander Charim''Oberösterreichische Nachrichten: Gräfner and Dimic are the best young mimes''
Article dated 7 November 2016, retrieved 4 August 2021. * 2019 Nestroy Theatre Award - in the category Best Newcomer for with his production of "Der Tag, an dem mein Großvater ein Held war" by Paulus Hochgatterer. * 2019 Stella Award (STELLA-Performing.Arts.Award for Young Audiences) - in the category "outstanding music" for Jelena Popržan in "The Language of Water" by Sarah Crossan (production: ). * 2020 Nestroy Theatre Prize 2020 - in the category Best Newcomer for Mathias Spaan with his dramatisation and staging of "The Nibelungs". * 2020 Nestroy Theatre Prize 2020 - in the category Best Federal State Performance for Rikki Henry with his production of "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

Directors

(from 1975) * 1975–1991: Herwig Lenau, Intendant (1969-1972 already head of the theatre and vice-director) * 1991-2002: Peter Wolsdorff, artistic director * 2002-2005: Reinhard Hauser, artistic director * 2005-2012: Isabella Suppanz, artistic director * 2012-2016: Bettina Hering, artistic director * Since 2016/17: Marie Rötzer, artistic director''Marie Rötzer leitet ab 2016 das Landestheater Niederösterreich''
derstandard.at, 11 June 2015, retrieved 4 August 2021.

References

External links

*
Alte Postkarte des Theaters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landestheater Niederosterreich Buildings and structures in Sankt Pölten

History

Honours

Directors

References

Further reading

External links