1938 Adolf Hitler opens the Saarland Theatre as the "Gautheater Saarpfalz". The building had been commissioned by him personally - as a "reward" for joining the German Reich - and was to serve as an "ideological Western Wall" against France.
In 1942, the theatre is destroyed in a bombing raid on Saarbrücken. In the 60s, artistic director Hermann Wedekind gives the theatre the programme: Art knows no borders. He regularly organises international theatre days and invites, among others, Russian, Romanian, French and Austrian artists; the "Georgian Week" has even resulted in a town twinning between Tbilisi and Saarbrücken. In his tenure from 1976-1989, artistic director Karlheinz Noblé left his mark on the then Saarbrücken State Theatre by turning to the German classics and playwrights of the 20th century.
In 1989 the theatre takes on the legal form of a limited company. Kurt Josef Schildknecht has been the general director of the three-division theatre since 1991. The programme is very wide-ranging; in addition to opera and theatre performances, operettas, musicals and ballet performances are also shown.
Esther Schweins introduces the Saarland State Theatre. The actress Bibi Jelinek reports on the numerous guest performances and Oskar Lafontaine explains why he sees the theatre not only as a place of entertainment, but above all as a forum for the formation of public opinion. And film clips show Saarbrücken stage discoveries from Patricia Kaas to Montserrat Caballé. In addition, the "Theatre Landscapes" recall the history of the theatre, which was closely linked to National Socialism in the founding phase.
