Stadttheater Düren was a theatre in
Düren
Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...
,
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, Germany.
The house was built from 1905 to 1907 to a design by
Carl Moritz, the architect of the opera house in Cologne, on what is now the Hoeschplatz. A Düren businessman,
Eberhard Hoesch, had donated 500,000
Mark
Mark may refer to:
In the Bible
* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark
* Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels
Currencies
* Mark (currency), a currenc ...
s for a new theatre; until then performances had been held at
inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...
s. After only 14 months of construction, the theatre opened on 17 January 1907. The house in
Jugendstil
(; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...
style seated 700 people. The theatre had no permanent ensemble but housed visiting performances, including by actors
Willy Birgel
Willy Birgel (19 September 1891 – 29 December 1973), born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a Germans, German theatre and film actor.
Career
Birgel began his acting career before World War I on the stage in his native city of Cologne, and came to mo ...
,
Paul Henckels
Paul Henckels (9 September 1885 – 27 May 1967) was a German film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1921 and 1965. Paul Henckels had started his acting career on the stage in the 1900s.
He was well known for his eccen ...
and
Asta Nielsen
Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were ...
, pianist
Elly Ney
Elly Ney (27 September 1882 – 31 March 1968) was a German romantic pianist who specialized in Beethoven, and was especially popular in Germany.
Career
She was born in Düsseldorf, where her mother was a music instructor and her father was a r ...
and conductor
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...
.
The theatre was destroyed by bombing in
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 ...
on 16 November 1944. Only the basement and the facade remained. The ruin was demolished in 1952, using the stones for the walls of a cemetery in the Kölnstraße.
Theatre performances were resumed in various venues, first on 25 April 1946 in a hall of a hospital (today: LVR-Klinik Düren), then in the hall of the
gymnasium Stiftisches Gymnasium, from 30 November 1991 in the municipal ''Haus der Stadt''.
External links
Theater in Düren photograph of 1912, Dachziegel-Katalog (Ludowici)
Stadttheater Dürenon old postcards, andreas-praefcke.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadttheater Duren
Theatres in North Rhine-Westphalia
Theatres completed in 1907
Art Nouveau architecture in Germany
Art Nouveau theatres
1907 establishments in Germany
Buildings and structures in Düren (district)
Buildings and structures demolished in 1952
Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II