The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language

theater company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of the theatre with two small stages, the workroom on Hildegardstrasse, and the Therese-Giehse-Halle in the rehearsal building on Falckenbergstrasse.

History

The company was founded in 1906 in

Schwabing Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the Capital (political), capital of the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Sc ...

as the private troupe of Erich Ziegel. Beginning in 1917,

Otto Falckenberg Otto Falckenberg (5 October 1873 in Koblenz25 December 1947 in Munich) was a German theatre director, manager and writer. In April 1901, he co-founded ''Die Elf Scharfrichter'', the first political ''kabarett'' (a form of cabaret which developed ...

served as director; in 1926, he moved the company into the ''Schauspielhaus'', (built in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style in 1901 by Richard Riemerschmid and Max Littmann). Since 1933, the Münchner Kammerspiele has been a municipal theater company of the City of Munich. In 1961, the ''Werkraumtheater'' has served as its second stage. In 2001, the company gained a rehearsal stage next to the ''Schauspielhaus'' in a large building designed by Gustav Peichl.

Directors

Since the 1920s, the Münchner Kammerspiele has presented numerous world premieres, including works by

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant- ...

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...

, and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. Brecht, Bruno Hübner,

Axel von Ambesser Axel Eugen Alexander von Oesterreich (22 June 1910 – 16 September 1988), better known as Axel von Ambesser, was a German playwright, actor and film director. Ambesser's father was Alexander Constantin von Oesterreich. Ambesser was born in Hambu ...

Fritz Kortner Fritz Kortner (born Fritz Nathan Kohn, 12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director. Life and career Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn into a Jews, Jewish family. He studied at the Vien ...

, Peter Stein,

Franz Xaver Kroetz Franz Xaver Kroetz (; born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. ''Persistent'', '' Farmyard'', and '' Request Concert'', all written in 1971, are some ...

, Robert Wilson,

George Tabori George Tabori ( György Tábori; 24 May 1914 – 23 July 2007) was a Hungarian writer and theatre director. Life and career Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél (Cornelius) and Elsa Tábori. He was raised as a Catho ...

, Erwin Faber,

Max Schreck Friedrich Gustav Maximilian Schreck Eickhoff, Stefan. 2007 (6 September 1879 – 20 February 1936), Walk, Ines. 2006. known professionally as Max Schreck, was a German actor, best known for his lead role as the vampire Count Orlok in the film ...

, and other important actors and writers have staged plays with the company, often resulting in awards.

Artistic leadership

One famous producing-director (

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

) of the Münchner Kammerspiele was Falckenberg (1917–1944). Known as an expert in

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in Germany during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, he was credited with producing or directing many celebrated productions at the company, including Brecht’s first staged play, ''

Drums in the Night ''Drums in the Night'' (German language, German: ''Trommeln in der Nacht'') is a Play (theatre), play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht wrote it between 1919 and 1920, and it received its first theatrical production in 1922. It is i ...

'', in 1922, as well as works by Wedekind,

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

, and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1945, artistic leadership has been in the hands of

Erich Engel Erich Gustav Otto Engel (14 February 1891 – 10 May 1966) was a German film and theatre director.He is often confused with another German film director called Erich Engels (with an s), who specialised in comedy, and crime films. Biography ...

(1945–1947), Hans Schweikart (1947–1963), August Everding (1963–1973), Hans-Reinhard Müller (1973–1983), Dieter Dorn (1983–2001), and

Frank Baumbauer Frank Baumbauer (born 2 September 1945 in Munich, Germany) is a German theater director and artistic director active in the German theater community. He is the son of German casting agent Erna Baumbauer. Baumbauer was from 2001 to 2009 the d ...

(2001–2009). In 2010,

Johan Simons Johan Simons (born 1 September 1946) is a Dutch theatre director. Simons received his education at the Rotterdam Dance Academy and the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. He also taught directing in Maastricht for a number of years. Career S ...

was appointed artistic director. From 2015 until 2020,

Matthias Lilienthal Matthias Lilienthal (born 21 December 1959) is a German dramaturge and theatre director. Life and work Born in Berlin, Lilienthal grew up as the second of three children in Berlin-Neukölln. After graduating from the Berlin Evangelisches Gym ...

was the artistic director and since 2021, Barbara Mundel has held the position.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Kammerspiele Kammerspiele 1911 establishments in Germany Theatres completed in 1901 Art Nouveau theatres