The Burgtheater (en: (Imperial) Court Theatre), originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world. [1] The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the Viennese population;[1] its theatre company of more or less regular members has created a traditional style and speech typical of Burgtheater performances.
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The theatre opened on 14 March 1741, the creation of the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa of Austria who wanted a theatre next to her palace. Her son, Emperor Joseph II called it the "German National Theatre" in 1776. Three Mozart operas premiered there: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), Le nozze di Figaro (1786) and Così fan tutte (1790). Beginning in 1794, the theatre was called the "K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg". Beethoven's 1st Symphony premiered there on 2 April 1800.
The theatre was moved to a new building at the Ringstraße on 14 October 1888 designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.
In 1943, under Nazi rule, a notoriously extreme production of The Merchant of Venice was staged at the Burgtheater - with Werner Krauss as Shylock, one of several theatre 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, it was further damaged by a fire of unknown origin.[1] After the war, the theatre was restored between 1953 and 1955.[1] The classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater-German language were trend-setting for German language theatres.
Before 1776 the theatre had been leased from the state by Johann Koháry. The tenant of the theatre Johann Koháry came into financial difficulties in 1773, he got in 1773 Joseph Keglevich as a curator to his side, the director of the theatre Wenzel Sporck, who was the great nephew of Franz Anton Sporck, who had brought the french horn and Antonio Vivaldi to Prague, got a committee for financing under the chairman Franz Keglevich as his assistance in 1773 and Karl Keglevich became the director of the Theater am Kärntnertor in 1773 to have comparative figures. The curator Joseph Keglevich declared the bankruptcy of the theatre in 1776 and the state under Joseph II took over the theatre again in 1776. The director of the theatre Wenzel Sporck and the chairman of the committee for financing the theatre Franz Keglevich were released of their duties in 1776 and the University of Trnava, which rector was Alexander Keglevich in the year 1770/71, got the permission to move into the Buda Castle. Until 1776 the theatre had been financed de facto, but not de jure, by the University of Trnava of the Society of Jesus, which were suppressed by the order of Pope Clement XIV in 1773, therefore it is difficult to determine who the actual director was and therefore the suspicion that the same surnames were no coincidence, however, did not constitute a kinship, but a financial intelligence for purchased exams and for identifying of high-risk housing tenants. Francis II decided on 4th July 1792 to let out the theatre to lease again, but it was not possible to find any tenant, therefore it was not permitted to the directors of the Burgtheater as state employees to bow to the audience, because their performance was not over, because there was no new tenant. The benchmark for the directors became the finances of the house. Finally, Ferdinánd Pálffy became the tenant 1794-1817, his finances had come from the mining institute in Banská Štiavnica the first technical university in the world.[2][3][4][5][6]
| Name | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Joint direction by 15-22 senior members (Künstlerrepublik) |
1776 | 1789 |
| Franz Carl Hieronymus Brockmann | 1790 | 1790 |
| Direction by 5 senior members (Regiekollegium) |
1790 | 1794 |
| Peter von Braun | 1794 | 1806 |
| Direction by a group of senior courtiers (initially 8) (Kavaliersdirektion) |
1807 | 1817 |
| Joseph Schreyvogel | 1814 | 1832 |
| Johann Ludwig Deinhardstein | 1832 | 1841 |
| Franz Ignaz von Holbein | 1841 | 1849 |
| Heinrich Laube | 1849 | 1867 |
| Friedrich Halm (pseudonym of Eligius Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen) |
1867 | 1868 |
| August Wolff | 1868 | 1870 |
| Franz Freiherr von Dingelstedt | 1870 | 1881 |
| Adolf von Wilbrandt | 1881 | 1887 |
| Adolf von Sonnenthal | 1887 | 1888 |
| August Förster | 1888 | 1889 |
| Adolf von Sonnenthal | 1889 | 1890 |
| Max Burckhard | 1890 | 1898 |
| Paul Schlenther | 1898 | 1910 |
| Alfred Freiherr von Berger | 1910 | 1912 |
| Hugo Thimig | 1912 | 1917 |
| Max von Millenkovich | 1917 | 1918 |
| Joint direction by Hermann Bahr, Max Devrient and Robert Michel (Dreierkollegium) |
1918 | 1918 |
| Albert Heine | 1918 | 1921 |
| Anton Wildgans | 1921 | 1922 |
| Max Paulsen | 1922 | 1923 |
| Franz Herterich | 1923 | 1930 |
| Anton Wildgans | 1930 | 1931 |
| Hermann Röbbeling | 1932 | 1938 |
| Mirko Jelusich | 1938 | 1938 |
| Ulrich Bettac | 1938 | 1939 |
| Lothar Müthel | 1939 | 1945 |
| Raoul Aslan | 1945 | 1948 |
| Erhard Buschbeck | 1948 | 1948 |
| Josef Gielen | 1948 | 1954 |
| Adolf Rott | 1954 | 1959 |
| Ernst Haeusserman | 1959 | 1968 |
| Paul Hoffmann | 1968 | 1971 |
| Gerhard Klingenberg | 1971 | 1976 |
| Achim Benning | 1976 | 1986 |
| Claus Peymann | 1986 | 1999 |
| Klaus Bachler | 1999 | 2009 |
| Matthias Hartmann | 2009 |
The Burgtheater remained a strongly traditional stage with a distinct culture until the late 1960s. From the early 1970s on, it became a venue for some of Europe's most important stage director and designers. With many debut performances of plays written by Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke, Peter Turrini and George Tabori, 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, Kirsten Dene, Andrea Clausen, Bruno Ganz, Karlheinz Hackl, Robert Meyer, Gertraud Jesserer, Ignaz Kirchner, Jutta Lampe, Susanne Lothar, Michael Maertens, Tamara Metelka, Birgit Minichmayr, Nicholas Ofczarek, Hedwig Pistorius, Elisabeth Orth, Martin Schwab, Peter Simonischek, Ulrich Tukur, Franz Tscherne, Gert Voss, Gusti Wolf, and Heinz Zuber.
Some famous former members of the ensemble were Max Devrient, Josef Kainz, Josef Lewinsky, Joseph Schreyvogel, Adolf von Sonnenthal, Charlotte Wolter, Ludwig Gabillon, Zerline Gabillon, Attila Hörbiger, Paula Wessely, Curd Jürgens, O. W. Fischer, Paul Hörbiger, Otto Tausig, Peter Weck, Fritz Muliar, and Christoph Waltz. 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 theatre facing the Volksgarten. Members of honor are: Annemarie Düringer, Wolfgang Gasser, Heinrich Schweiger, Gusti Wolf, and Michael Heltau.
The Burgtheater has seen productions staged by directors like Otto Schenk, Peter Hall, Giorgio Strehler, Luca Ronconi, Hans Neuenfels, Terry Hands, Jonathan Miller, Peter Zadek, Paulus Manker, Luc Bondy, Christoph Schlingensief, and Thomas Vinterberg. Among the staged and costume designers were Fritz Wotruba, Luciano Damiani, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Ezio Frigerio, Franca Squarciapino, Josef Svoboda, Anselm Kiefer, Moidele Bickel, and Milena Canonero.
Notable performances: The world premiere of "Des Feux dans la Nuit" in 1999 at the Burgtheater; was the first solo created for a man by internationally acclaimed choreographer Marie Chouinard. It was created specifically for Elijah Brown who went on to tour the solo internationally before becoming the lead character in Celine Dion's stage show "A New Day" created by world famous director Franco Dragone.