The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a
theater
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 communi ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Located in Berlin's city center
Mitte on
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the
GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre.
About
The Volksbühne was built during the years 1913 to 1914 and was designed by
Oskar Kaufmann, with integrated sculpture by
Franz Metzner, who had both previously collaborated on the
Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz
The Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz was a cinema located at 4 Nollendorfplatz, Charlottenburg, Schöneberg, Berlin. The chief architect was Oskar Kaufmann. Built in 1912–13 and decorated by leading artistic practitioners of the day, it was the ...
cinema in 1912–1913. It opened on December 30, 1914 and has its origin in an organization known as the "Freie Volksbühne" ("Free People's Theater") founded in 1890 by
Bruno Wille and
Wilhelm Bölsche, which sketched out the vision for a theatre "of the people" in 1892. The goal of the organization was to promote the
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
plays of the day at prices accessible to the common worker. The original slogan inscribed on the edifice was "Die Kunst dem Volke" ("The art to the people"). Two of the earlier artistic directors were the innovative
Max Reinhardt from 1915 to 1918, and 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 ...
the socio-political theatre reformer
Erwin Piscator in 1924–1927.
During
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 ...
, the theatre was heavily damaged like much of the rest of Berlin. From 1950 to 1954, it was rebuilt according to the designs of architect .
Frank Castorf became director in 1992. During his 25-year tenure, through mid 2017, the theater's ambitious, experimental productions, brought it worldwide recognition as a leading European venue.
In 2015 the City of Berlin announced that Castorf would be replaced by
Chris Dercon in 2017. The following September, left-wing activists occupied the theater, protesting the Volksbühne's new programmatic direction.
As a result, Dercon resigned in April 2018 after what was considered by many to have been a commercially and artistically weak period for the theater.
Afterward,
Klaus Dörr temporarily took over the leadership of the Volksbühne, intending to serve for an interim period. On March 15, 2021, Berlin’s Senator for Culture, Klaus Lederer, and Klaus Dörr mutually agreed to end his tenure.
René Pollesch, a playwright and director considered to be one of the leading and most influential voices of post-dramatic theatre in Germany, assumed the position of Artistic Director of the Volksbühne in 2021. Pollesch passed away unexpectedly in February 2024.
After a year-long search, Berlin's government announced
Matthias Lilienthal as the Volksbühne's new artistic director in February 2025, joined by an artistic board of choreographers
Florentina Holzinger and
Marlene Monteiro Freitas. Lilienthal, who worked as chief dramaturg at the Volksbühne between 1991 and 1998 under Frank Castorf, previously led the
HAU - Hebbel am Ufer and the
Münchner Kammerspiele. The new leadership team will begin their tenure in August 2026.
References
External links
Official Volksbühne website
Theatres in Berlin
Buildings and structures in Berlin
Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin
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