Producer
Leopold Hoesch
Director
Niels Negendank
Producer
Nicholas von Brauchitsch
Genre
Culture
Broadcaster
ZDFtheaterkanal / 3sat / ZDFdokukanal
Length
1 x 30'
Editor
Tom Weichenhain
Year
2003
Theatrescapes
Theater Trier

Trier is not only the oldest city in Germany, but also the oldest theatre location in Germany. Theatre was already being performed in the Moselle city 2000 years ago.

Esther Schweins follows in the footsteps of the ancient theatre, introduces the amphitheatre and has an archaeologist describe what ancient Trier with its numerous places of entertainment might have looked like. The director Hans Neuenfels reports on his unsuccessful Fluxus project at the Trier Theatre in the sixties, which triggered his hasty departure in the night and fog. Star tenor René Kollo has something to say about the good atmosphere in Trier, and Guildo Horn, son of the city, naturally also has his say and talks about his first theatre experiences and later roles at the Antikenfestspiele. Theatre excerpts give an insight into Trier's tense relationship with another famous son of the city, Karl Marx. Audiences from overseas report on what is so unique about Trier's theatre and why they travel to the Moselle for opera performances as part of the "Unknown Operas" cycle.

The Trier Theatre has been in existence for 200 years. The municipal theatre was founded in 1802. Napoleon himself handed over a Capuchin monastery to the local government by decree for the foundation of a theatre. For over 140 years - until its destruction in 1944 - theatre was performed in the former monastery. The beginning of the 20th century was one of the most glamorous times. In 1908, the only 25-year-old Heinz Tietjen, who later became general director of all Prussian state theatres in Berlin, Hanover, Kassel and Wiesbaden, performed Richard Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung" for the first time in the history of the Trier theatre. During the Nazi era, stagings of the classics were used to stir up political sentiment. On 1 September 1944, the theatre was ordered to close, and in December a bombing raid completely destroyed the house.

After the Second World War, plays were initially staged in a festival hall until the new theatre at the Augustinerhof was opened in 1964. But theatre performances were not only staged in the building, open-air performances were also on the programme. In 1998, artistic director Heinz Lukas-Kindermann launched the Antique Festival, which has always featured prominent artists, including Elke Sommer, Guildo Horn, René Kollo, Werner Schneyder, Anja Silja and Sir Peter Ustinov. The productions of the Antikenfestspiele attempt contemporary interpretations of ancient plays, material and mythologies, while in the music theatre a number of lesser-known operas are performed.

Theatrescapes: Theatre Trier

Trier is not only the oldest city in Germany, but also the oldest theatre location in Germany. Theatre was already being performed in the Moselle city 2000 years ago.

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