The Volkstheater in 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...

 (roughly translated as "People's Theatre") was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of 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...

, amongst them the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber

Ludwig Anzengruber

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

 and the furniture manufacturer Thonet, in order to offer a popular counter weight to the Hofburgtheater. It was erected according to designs by Ferdinand Fellner

Ferdinand Fellner

Ferdinand Fellner was an Austrian architect. Along with Hermann Helmer, he designed several theatres and palaces across Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century.Fellner was born in Vienna...

 and Hermann Helmer, who attempted to reconcile their plans with historicism

Historicism (art)

Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...

. It is located in Neubau

Neubau

Neubau is the seventh district of Vienna . It is located near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later...

, the seventh district

Districts of Vienna

The districts of Vienna are 23 named city sections of Vienna, Austria, which are also numbered for easy reference. For centuries, district boundaries have changed...

 of Vienna.

The founders of this stage had a theatrical stage in mind, in order to expose wider circles of the population of Vienna to classical and modern literature whilst staging these next to more traditional plays. The theatre follows this tradition even today. New productions of the classics are always in the pipeline along with regular reinterpretations of works by Ferdinand Raimund

Ferdinand Raimund

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

 and Johann Nestroy

Johann Nestroy

Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...

 and many new plays and reruns. Special attention is given to Austrian playwrights of old and new.

In 2005 Michael Schottenberg became art director of the Volkstheater.

In 2005 the Volkstheater started an alternative theater stage called "Volkstheater Hundsturm" in Margareten

Margareten

Margareten is the fifth district of Vienna . It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Margareten is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and residential homes.- Description :...

, the fifth district of Vienna. It is a place for experimental theater (e.g. Wojtek Klemm, Dejan Dukovski, monochrom

Monochrom

monochrom is an international art-technology-philosophy group, founded in 1993. Its offices are located at Museumsquartier/Vienna ....

).

External links

• Volkstheater Wien (in German
  German language
  German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
  
  )