The Altes Theater was the first theatre building in the German city of Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. It was sited on Richard-Wagner-Platz.

History

Commissioned by the businessman Benedikt Zehmisch in 1766 from the architect Georg Rudolph Fäsch (1710–1787), it was at first called the Theater auf der Rannischen Bastei and sited on the foundations of a bastion on the city wall. It had three tiers of seating and boxes, with a capacity of 1186 standing and seated. It opened on 7 October 1766 with the tragedy Hermann by Johann Elias Schlegel

Johann Elias Schlegel

Johann Elias Schlegel , was a German critic and dramatic poet.-Life:He was educated at Schulpforta and at the University of Leipzig, where he studied law. In 1743 he became private secretary to his relative, von Spener, the Saxon ambassador at the Danish court...

, a ballet and a comedy - the audience included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

. In 1768 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...

 put on his play Minna von Barnhelm

Minna von Barnhelm

Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness is a lustspiel or comedy by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing...

there. Johann Adam Hiller also sang there.

The building was renovated and extended in 1796 and 1802 and finally converted to the classical style in 1817 by Friedrich Weinbrenner

Friedrich Weinbrenner

Friedrich Weinbrenner was a German architect and city planner admired for his mastery of classical style.- Birth and education :...

 and the university's chief-of-works Carl August Benjamin Siegel

Carl August Benjamin Siegel

Carl August Benjamin Siegel was a German architecture professor and chief of works, active in Leipzig and Dresden....

. It reopened in 1817 as the Theater der Stadt Leipzig and its 1828-29 season saw the premieres of Heinrich Marschner

Heinrich Marschner

Heinrich August Marschner , was the most important composer of German Romantic opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, and is remembered principally for his operas Hans Heiling , Der Vampyr , and Der Templer und die Jüdin...

's Der Vampyr

Der Vampyr

Der Vampyr is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück is based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which itself was based on the short novel The Vampyre by John Polidori...

and Der Templer und die Jüdin

Der Templer und die Jüdin

Der Templer und die Jüdin is an opera in three acts by Heinrich Marschner...

. From 1829 to 1832 it served as the court theatre for the Kingdom of Saxony

Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...

 before passing into private hands. After the Neues Theater was built in 1868, the theatre was renamed the Altes Theater and used only for plays and operettas. From 1912 onwards it was again operated by the city council.

On 7 December 1912 it hosted the world premiere of the 6-scene play Peterchens Mondfahrt by Gerdt von Bassewitz, who turned it into an illustrated children's book in 1915. On 8 December 1923 it also saw the world premiere of Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

's drama Baal

Baal (play)

Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. It concerns a wastrel youth who becomes involved in several sexual affairs and at least one murder...

, causing a scandal which led the mayor to cancel the rest of its run. The building was destroyed by a British air raid on the night of 3–4 December 1943 and the ruins demolished after the war.

Sources

• http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/1923/index.html