Producer
Leopold Hoesch
Director
Niels Negendank
Producer
Nicholas von Brauchitsch
Genre
Culture
Broadcaster
ZDFtheaterkanal / 3sat / ZDFdokukanal
Length
1 x 30'
Editor
Nepomuk Nitschke
Year
2006
Theatrescapes
Deutsches Theater Berlin

Great theatrical aesthetic innovations have taken place on its stage, it is the home of entire generations of famous actors and perhaps like no other German stage, this house is a burning mirror of Germany's eventful history through the last century and a half: the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.

Erbaut wurde das Deutsche Theater 1850 mitten im Quartier Latin Berlins, in der Nähe einer Eisenbahn-Fabrik. 1883 gründet Adolph L’Arronge nach dem Vorbild der Comédie Française eine Theateraktiengesellschaft und kauft die Bühne. Seinen Ruf, unter allen deutschen Bühnen der „Olymp“ zu sein, erwarb sich das Deutsche Theater spätestens unter Max Reinhardt. Der bald weltberühmte Regisseur leitete es von 1905 bis kurz vor seiner Emigration 1933, ließ am Nachbargrundstück die modernen Kammerspiele bauen und versammelte berühmte Schauspieler um sich: Werner Krauss, Alexander Moissi, Gertrud Eysoldt, Tilla Durieux und Elisabeth Bergner.

Reinhardt's former assistant Heinz Hilpert managed to keep the theatre independent during the Nazi dictatorship. After the war, under the directorship of Wolfgang Langhoff, Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel founded their Berliner Ensemble at the Deutsches Theater. In the GDR, the Deutsches Theater was a mirror of its time. In the 1990s, the Deutsches Theater was twice named German-language "Theatre of the Year" by the critics. Bernd Wilms has been running the theatre since 2001.

Esther Schweins introduces the Deutsches Theater, shows that Max Reinhardt was already a shrewd marketing expert, and the artistic directors Thomas Langhoff, Dieter Mann and Bernd Wilms explain in conversation the special significance of the theatre through the ages. The actors Ulrich Matthes, Inge Keller and Nina Hoss have their say and numerous archive recordings give an impression of trend-setting productions.

Theatrescapes: Deutsches Theater Berlin

Great theatrical aesthetic innovations have taken place on its stage, it is the home of entire generations of famous actors and perhaps like no other German stage, this house is a burning mirror of Germany's eventful history through the last century and a half: the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.

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