Burgtheater

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Burgtheater

The Burgtheater (en

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
: (Imperial) Court Theatre), originally known as K.K.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Burgtheater'

Start a new discussion about 'Burgtheater'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Burgtheater (en
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
: (Imperial) Court Theatre), originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1920 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
n National Theatre in Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
and one of the most important German language
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
theatres in the world.

The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the Viennese population; its theater company of more or less regular members has created a traditional style and speech typical of Burgtheater performances.

History
It was created on 14 March 1741 by Habsburg
Habsburg

The House of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spanish Empire and the Austrian Empire....
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa was the List of rulers of Austria, List of rulers of Hungary, List of rulers of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany and a Holy Roman Emperor by marriage to Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....
to be a theatre next to her palace, and her son, Emperor Joseph II called it the "German National Theatre" in 1776. Three Mozart operas premiered there: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entf?hrung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German language libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie....
(1782), Le nozze di Figaro (1786) and Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte

Cos? fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte....
(1790). Beginning in 1794, the theatre was called the "K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg".

The theatre was moved to a new building at the Ringstraße
Ringstraße

The Ringstra?e is a circular road surrounding the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria and is one of its main sights. It is typical of the historical style called Ringstra?enstil of the 1860s to 1890s....
on 14 October 1888 designed by Gottfried Semper
Gottfried Semper

Gottfried Semper was a Germany architect, art critic, and professor of architecture, who designed and built the Semperopera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841....
and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer
Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer

Baron Karl von Hasenauer was an important Austrian architect and key representative of the Historicism school.He created several Neo-Baroque monuments, many around near the Ringstra?e in Vienna....
.

In 1943, under Nazi rule, a notoriously extreme production of The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Although classified as a Shakespearean comedies in the First Folio, and while it shares certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedy, the play is perhaps more remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for...
was staged at the Burgtheater - with Werner Krauss
Werner Krauss

Werner Johannes Krauss was a Germany stage and film actor.Krauss was born in Sonnefeld, Germany, the son of a clergyman. He ran away from home and joined a travelling theatre company....
as Shylock
Shylock

Shylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice....
, one of several theater and film roles by this actor pandering to antisemitic stereotypes.

On March 12, 1945 the Burgtheater was largely destroyed in a bombing raid, and, one month later, on April 12, 1945, the Burgtheater was further damaged by a fire of unknown origin. After the war, the theatre was restored between 1953-1955. The classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater-German language were trend-setting for German language
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
theaters.

Directors of the Burgtheater

Joseph Schreyvogel (1814-1832)
Heinrich Laube
Heinrich Laube

Heinrich Laube , Germany dramatist, novelist and theatre-director, was born at Szprotawa in Prussian Silesia....
(1849-1867)
Hermann Röbbeling (1932-1938)
Mirko Jelusich (1938)
Lothar Müthel
Lothar Müthel

Lothar Max M?thel was a German stage actor and director.M?thel was born in Berlin, Germany where he attended the acting school of Max Reinhardt , Schauspielschule, Berlin....
(1939-1945)
Raoul Aslan
Raoul Aslan

Raoul Aslan was an Austrian theater actor of Greek-Armenian ancestry.Born in Saloniki, Greece, Aslan lived in Vienna from 1897 until his death....
(1945-1948)
Josef Gielen (1948-1954)
Adolf Rott (1954-1959)
Ernst Haeussermann (1959-1968)
Paul Hoffmann
Paul Hoffmann

Paul Jacob Christopher Hoffmann born 14 January 1970, Rockhampton, Queensland, Queensland, Australia, is an Australia cricket player who has played for the cricket teams of Scotland....
(1968-1971)
Gerhard Klingenberg (1971-1976)
Achim Benning
Achim Benning

Achim Benning is a Germany actor and theatre director.Benning finished his actor training in 1959 and was thereafter engaged at various German theatres....
(1976-1986)
Claus Peymann (1986-1999)
Klaus Bachler (since 1999)

With many debut performances of plays written by Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard

Thomas Bernhard was an Austria playwright and novelist....
, Elfriede Jelinek
Elfriede Jelinek

Elfriede Jelinek is an Austrian feminism playwright and novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004 for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clich?s and their subjugating power."...
, Peter Handke
Peter Handke

Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright....
, Peter Turrini
Peter Turrini

Peter Turrini is an Austrian leftist playwright.Born in Carinthia , Turrini has been writing since 1971, when his play Rozznjogd premiered at the Volkstheater, Vienna....
and George Tabori
George Tabori

George Tabori was a Hungary writer and theater director.Born in Budapest as Gy?rgy T?bori, a son of Korn?l and Elsa T?bori. His father died in Auschwitz in 1944, but his mother and his brother Paul managed to escape the Nazis....
, Claus Peymann managed to affirm the Burgtheater's reputation as one of Europe's foremost stages. Among the best known actors in the ensemble of about 120 members are: Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer

Klaus Maria Brandauer is an Austrians actor, film director, and pedagogue....
, Kirsten Dene, Andrea Clausen
Andrea Clausen

Andrea Clausen is a Germany stage actress, member of the Burgtheater ensemble....
, Bruno Ganz
Bruno Ganz

Bruno Ganz is a Switzerland actor....
, Karlheinz Hackl
Karlheinz Hackl

Karlheinz Hackl is an Austrian actor whose varied career has included theater, television, film and cabaret performances as well as directing....
, Robert Meyer, Gertraud Jesserer, Ignaz Kirchner, Jutta Lampe, Susanne Lothar
Susanne Lothar

Susanne Lothar is a German actress. She is the daughter of actors Hanns Lothar and Ingrid Andree; they divorced in 1965, the year before her father's death....
, Michael Maertens, Tamara Metelka, Birgit Minichmayr, Nicholas Ofczarek, Hedwig Pistorius, Elisabeth Orth, Martin Schwab, Peter Simonischek, Ulrich Tukur
Ulrich Tukur

Ulrich Tukur is a Germany actor and musician....
, Franz Tscherne
Franz Tscherne

Franz Tscherne is an austrian Actor and Director.The actor, who was born in Graz, Austria, has been on the stage of major and renowned theaters in Switzerland, Germany and Austria such as Zurich, Basel, D?sseldorf, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and Vienna since the age of 19, playing many important parts of his genre from Shakespea...
,Gert Voss, Gusti Wolf
Gusti Wolf

Gusti Wolf was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress.Born in Vienna, Wolf made her stage debut at the Burgtheater in 1934 and from there moved on to Ostrava, Munich, and Berlin....
, and Heinz Zuber.

Some famous former members of the ensemble are Max Devrient, Josef Kainz, Josef Lewinsky, Joseph Schreyvogel, Adolf von Sonnenthal
Adolf von Sonnenthal

Adolf von Sonnenthal , Austrian actor, was born of Jewish parentage in Budapest. Though brought up in penury and apprenticed to a working tailor, he cultivated his talent for drama, and was fortunate in receiving the support of a co-religionist, the actor Bogumil Dawison, who trained him for the Stage ....
, Charlotte Wolter
Charlotte Wolter

Charlotte Wolter , Austrian actress, was born at Cologne, and began her artistic career at Budapest in 1857.She played minor parts at the theatre in Vienna, and soon obtained an engagement at the Victoria theatre in Berlin, where she remained until 1861....
, Ludwig Gabillon, Zerline Gabillon, Attila Hörbiger
Attila Hörbiger

Attila H?rbiger was a famous Austrian stage and movie actor.He played in several German and Austrian movies alongside with his wife Paula Wessely whom he had married in 1935....
, Paula Wessely
Paula Wessely

Paula Wessely was an Austrian actor.Die Wessely, as she was affectionately called by her admirers and fans, was Austria's foremost popular postwar actress....
, Paul Hörbiger, and Fritz Muliar
Fritz Muliar

Fritz Muliar, born as Friedrich Ludwig Stand , is an Austrian actor who, due to his huge popularity, is often referred to by his countrymen as Volksschauspieler....
. Particularly deserving artists may be designated honorable members. Their names are engraved in marble at the bottom end of the ceremonial stairs at the side of the theater facing the Volksgarten
Volksgarten

A Volksgarten is a public park founded by the nation in Germany or Austria.The famous volksgartens are :*Volksgarten in Vienna, Austria*Volksgarten in Munich, Germany...
. Members of honor are: Annemarie Düringer, Wolfgang Gasser, Heinrich Schweiger, Gusti Wolf
Gusti Wolf

Gusti Wolf was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress.Born in Vienna, Wolf made her stage debut at the Burgtheater in 1934 and from there moved on to Ostrava, Munich, and Berlin....
, and Michael Heltau
Michael Heltau

Michael Heltau is an Austria television actor and singer.External links...
.
See also

In the 50^th anniversary of the reopening of the Burgtheater, the building was selected as a main motif of one of the most famous collectors coins: the Austrian 10 euro Re-opening of Burgtheater and National Opera commemorative coin
Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)

Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special euro coins Mint and issued by member states of the Eurozone. They are minted mainly in gold and silver, although other precious metals are also used on rare occasions....
, minted in October 12 2005. This coin was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the re-opening of the rebuilt National Theatre (Burgtheater) and the National Opera. The obverse side depicts the two buildings; the National Theatre slightly behind the Opera House.
Burgtheater (movie)
Raimund Theater
Raimund Theater

The Raimund Theater is a theatre in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria.Named after the Austrian dramatist Ferdinand Raimund, the theatre was built by an association of Viennese citizens and opened on 28 November, 1893 with Raimund's play Die gefesselte Phantasie....
Volkstheater Wien

External links