Max Burckhard was director of the Burgtheater

Burgtheater

The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...

, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, 1890-1898.

Max Burckhard, a lawyer, became director of the theatre on May 12, 1890. He remained director of the theatre for eight years. He brought a fresh perspective to the theatre and introduced Sunday matinees at a reduced cost in order to widen their audience. He later remarked that the less wealthy audiences were the most "critically acute". While director, he remodeled the auditorium in the spring and summer of 1897, and introduced contemporary drama by Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

, Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...

, Arthur Schnitzler

Arthur Schnitzler

Dr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...

, Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...

 to the Viennese audience as well as Austrian classics of Ludwig Anzengruber

Ludwig Anzengruber

Ludwig Anzengruber was an Austrian dramatist, novelist and poet. He was born and died in Vienna.- Origins:...

 and Ferdinand Raimund

Ferdinand Raimund

Ferdinand Raimund was an Austrian actor and dramatist.- Life and work :...

. He hired famous actors like Friedrich Mitterwurzer, Adele Sandrock

Adele Sandrock

Adele Sandrock was a German actress. After a successful theatrical career, she became one of the first German film stars....

, Lotte Medelsky, Otto Tressler, Hedwig Bleibtreu and Josef Kainz

Josef Kainz

Josef Gottfried Ignaz Kainz was an Austrian actor of Hungarian birth. He was highly active in theatres in Austria and Germany from 1873–1910...

. Burckhard was dismissed from his role of director in January 1898 because he closed the theatre mid-season for renovations.