Owner City of Oldenburg Opened February 1833 Architect Gerhard Schnitger | Designation Listed Baudenkmal Phone +49 441 2225111 | |
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Capacity Großes Haus: 540
Kleines Haus: 350
Spielraum: 80 Rebuilt 1881; 136 years ago (1881), Gerhard Schnitger
1893; 124 years ago (1893), Franz Noack / Paul Moritz Zimmer Address Theaterwall 28, 26122 Oldenburg, Germany Similar Schloss Oldenburg, St Lamberti Church, State Museum for Nature, Horst‑Janssen‑Museum, Staatstheater Mainz Profiles | ||
Das rheingold oldenburgisches staatstheater
The Oldenburgisches Staatstheater (Oldenburg State Theatre) is a German theater in the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony.
Contents
Men and women oldenburgisches staatstheater
Beginnings
The theatre was first opened in the times of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, on 1 February 1833. At that time it was a wooden structure built by local master carpenter Herman Wilhelm Muck, who also owned the building. Founder and first director of the theatre was Carl Christian Ludwig Starklof (1789–1850), a lawyer and writer who served as a privy councilor in Oldenburg. Also involved was actor Johann Christian Gerber (1785–1850) who had previously directed a theatre in the neighbouring city of Bremen. The founding was supported by Grand Duchess Cecilia (1807–1844). The theatre was named Großherzogliches Hoftheater (Grand Ducal Court Theatre) in 1842.
The wooden building was given up in 1881 when the theatre moved into the more imposing new Renaissance-style stone building designed by court architect Gerhard Schnitger. It was built next to the old structure.
Only ten years later, in November 1891, the new building burnt to the ground after a fire accident. The theatre company continued to work in a temporary wood building nearby while the destroyed venue was rebuilt under the supervision of Oldenburg court architect Franz Noack and Paul Moritz Zimmer, an architect from Chemnitz. The reconstruction adhered to Gerhard Schnitger’s original design, but modifications were made to replace gas lighting with electrical lighting. A large dome roof was added in order to accommodate a water tank above the stage area – an important fire protection measure at the time. Workshop space was expanded. The interior walls and ceilings were lavishly decorated with baroque-style mouldings, wall sculptures, frescoes. The new electrical lighting was integrated into the decoration. The theatre then reopened in October 1893.