Burgtheater

The Burgtheater in Vienna is a federal theater in Austria.It is regarded as one of Europe’s most important theaters and, after the Comédie-Française, is the second-oldest and largest German-speaking spoken theater in Europe.Since 1748, the original Burgtheater has stood on Michaelerplatz.The new structure on today’s Universitätsring (formerly Franzensring) was dedicated in October 1888.After being entirely destroyed by air strikes in 1945, the Ronacher was used as an alternate quarters until it reopened on October 14, 1955.The Burgtheater is regarded as Austria’s national theatre.

Until 1918, the Burgtheater was known as the kk Theater close to the Burg and subsequently the kk Hof-Burgtheater.The ensemble players are known as “castle actors” and are sometimes referred to as “The Castle” in Vienna.It is the “richest and largest repertory theater in the world” in terms of manpower and funding.Martin Kuej has been the Burgtheater’s director since September 2019.

History

The first Burgtheater was established in 1540 in the lower pleasure garden of the Hofburg in a tennis court (called a ‘ball house’ at the time) built by the Roman-German monarch and later emperor Ferdinand I after the former ball house was destroyed by fire in 1525.

The theater opened on March 14, 1741, at the request of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who desired a theater near her castle. Emperor Joseph II dubbed it the “German National Theater” in 1776. Three Mozart operas, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), Le nozze di Figaro (1786), and Cos fan tutte (1790), as well as his Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor (1786), were presented there. The theater was known as the “K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg” beginning in 1794.Beethoven’s First Symphony was debuted there on April 2, 1800. The final performance was of Goethe’s Iphigenie aus Tauris in October 1888.

The initial structure of the theater was adjacent to the Hofburg at Michaelerplatz, facing St. Michael’s Church. On 14 October 1888, the theater was relocated to a new structure on the Ringstraße planned by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer, and the St. Michael’s Wing of the Hofburg Palace was built on the vacant site.

Under Nazi authority, a notably severe version of The Merchant of Venice was produced at the Burgtheater in 1943, starring Werner Krauss as Shylock, one of numerous theater and screen roles in which this actor pandered to antisemitic tropes.

The Burgtheater was extensively devastated in a USAF bombing strike on March 12, 1945, and one month later, on April 12, 1945, it was further damaged by an unknown cause fire.Between 1953 and 1955, the theater was reconstructed after the war.The traditional Burgtheater style, as well as the Burgtheater-German language, were revolutionary in German-language theater.

Stage technology

The auditorium can accommodate around 1,340 people (1,175 seats), making it one of Europe’s largest theatres.The stage doorway is 12 meters wide and 9 meters tall at its tallest point.The grids and lighting bridges are 28 meters in height.The stage area is approximately 780 m2, with a width of 31 meters and a depth of around 25 meters – however it may be increased by a cercle expansion.The stage is located on the first level of the theater building, and there are two entrances on either side of the stage for the actors.In the backstage area, there is a massive elevator that is 20 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep, making it perfect for moving decorations that may be quite wide and up to 3.5 meters high, but only slightly under 1.25 meters deep.Larger scenery pieces can only be moved in a slanted position.

The stage was restored in 1954 by the Austrian firm Waagner Biro, which has previously worked on other theaters and opera houses.The main stage comprises a rotating cylinder stage with a diameter of 21 m and four sinks that can be lowered to 8.8 m.It was built following to Sepp Nordegg’s ideas and is 5 levels deep, allowing the stage sets to be switched utilizing the paternoster concept.The stage’s refurbishment, which began in 1994, was finished in 2004. The previous control was replaced, among other things, with a computer control.The rotating cylinder stage features two stage wagons and four recesses, a 21-meter-diameter spinning stage, and six orchestra recesses that can seat 70 musicians.

The Burgtheater’s Iron Curtain weighs 16.8 tons and, in an emergency, such as a fire, can divide the stage area from the auditorium in 28 seconds and hold back the flames for at least 20 minutes.Following the devastating fire in the Ringtheater, all Viennese theaters were required to install an iron curtain on the stages.However, following World War II, the old one was replaced with the current one.The Burgtheater has its own company fire brigade, which must not only investigate whether a controlled fire on the stage is the cause of an alarm signal from one of the particularly sensitive smoke detectors, but must also carry out the first extinguishing work in an emergency.

The sophisticated air fountain, the theater’s ventilation system, which begins beneath the circular roof of the air intake hut, which the Viennese simply name “Schwammerl” on the side of the Volksgarten, is architecturally distinctive and patented.The air hygienist Dr. Carl Böhm created this system, and the iron parts were built according to the blueprints of the engineering firm Ignaz Gridl.The air is cleansed and tempered after passing through filters.The stale air is taken from the auditorium and vented to the outside via the brass grid of the crystal chandelier wreath in the middle of the theater ceiling.The suction is created by the bubble gel, which is a green angel figure with a wind instrument that sits atop the dome like a weather vane.This element of the ventilation system is most seen in the attic (“luster floor”) and on the domed top of the theatre.

The Viennese Castle

For the Viennese, the Burgtheater has long been in the spotlight.Going “to the castle” was always regarded extremely classy.Rumors and scandals surrounding castle performers were among the most popular subjects in Vienna as early as the nineteenth century.The castle allowed various social strata (bourgeoisie and nobility) to mingle, however their locations were carefully divided.The castle performers “connected” the two estates and so had a high social rank in Vienna.

Charlotte Wolter, for example, was almost wildly acclaimed; her voice – the loud Wolter scream – was famous.Later, in the 1940s, the married pair Paula Wessely and Attila Hörbiger became the public’s favorite. Ladies imitated “Wessely,” and her hairdo, the “Wessely parting,” became fashionable.When they fought for the completion of the Anschluss, their popularity was also utilised for propaganda purposes.The couple’s daughters, all of whom went on to become performers, were frequently harmed by their parents’ celebrity.

“Die Burg” did, however, occasionally make bad news.Many Austrians felt that their honor had been violated in the run-up to the premiere of Thomas Bernhard’s Heldenplatz in 1988, which is why Martin Humer’s large-scale action, which scattered cow dung in front of the Burgtheater, was well received.Hermann Nitsch’s performance in 2005 similarly failed to please many Viennese.

Funerals for great castle actors are still a popular occasion; the Viennese adore the lovely corpse.This Viennese trait, however, was satirized on stage in Franz Wittenbrink’s musical composition Pompes Funèbres.The burial of Paul Hörbiger in 1981 and the goodbye of Josef Meinrad in 1996 were both significant occasions attended by thousands of people from all around Austria.Meinrad was so well-liked that he had his own square between the Burgtheater and the Volksgarten named after him.

While other theaters are sometimes struggling to stay afloat these days, the desire of the Viennese to visit the Burg appears to remain unbroken.With 313,000 guests in the 2005/06 season, the occupancy percentage was 84 percent.The income target was surpassed by €380,000, bringing in a total of €6 million.

The appointment of a new artistic director is always a hot topic among Viennese – speculation about the person of the possible director usually begins months before the decision is made, which is announced by the respective State Secretary for Culture and the Media and usually provides further topics of discussion for months.

Two groups that do not belong to the Burgtheater but have become “institutions” are housed in the main building of the theater.The Leporello bookstore is located on the left side of the entry hall and sells souvenirs from the Burgtheater as well as autographed images of the scene.It normally opens one hour before the start of the performance and stays open until the finish.The aristocratic restaurant Vestibülhoused is located in the right, southern wing of the theater and is an architectural “reflection” of the venue of the same name in the left wing of the building. It is most renowned for its wine selection.Similar to Café Landtmann, performers and theatergoers are frequently seen in the café before and after performances.

The Burgtheater may be depicted on the reverse of a 50 Schilling banknote from 1970.It appears on Austrian coins and stamps as well.

Vienna, Austria