Volksbühne
Encyclopedia
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte
Mitte
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the former districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding; the resulting borough retained the name Mitte. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and...
on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
The Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz is a square in Berlin-Mitte, Germany.The square is dominated by the Volksbühne and by the Karl-Liebknecht-Haus, the headquarters of the German Left Party...
(Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital.
The Volksbühne was built during the years 1913 to 1914 and was designed by Oskar Kaufmann
Oskar Kaufmann
Oskar Kaufmann was an Hungarian-Jewish architect...
, with integrated sculpture by Franz Metzner
Franz Metzner
Franz Metzner was an influential German sculptor, particularly his sculptural figures integrated into the architecture of Central European public buildings in the Art Nouveau / Jugendstil / Vienna Secession period...
. It has its origin in an organization known as the "Freie Volksbühne" ("Free People's Theater") which sketched out the vision for a theater "of the people" in 1892. The goal of the organization was to promote the social-realist plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
of the day at prices accessible to the common worker. The original slogan inscribed on the edifice was "Die Kunst dem Volke" ("Art to the people"). During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the theatre was heavily damaged like much of the rest of Berlin. From 1950 to 1954, it was rebuilt according to the design of architect Hans Richter.
Directed by Frank Castorf
Frank Castorf
Frank Castorf is a German theater director and since 1992 the artistic director of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz...
since 1992, the theater was named the most exciting stage in Germany („aufregendste Bühne Deutschlands“), attracting much press attention and establishing a reputation as one of the most provocative and experimental major theaters in contemporary Germany.