Municipal Theatre [Gera]
Theater Gera
Theatre building in Gera, Germany
Duits nationaal monument in Duitsland
Municipal Theatre
Built 1900-1902 as Fürstliches Hoftheater by Heinrich Seeling for Erbprinz Heinrich XXVII. Reuß j. L., funded by lottery funds and donations by the ducal family, at the site of a previous theatre building (built in the 1820s, rebuilt 1870-1871, demolished ca. 1900). The complex includes a theatre (670 seats) and a concert hall (960 seats). Opened 18 Oct 1902 with Wagner's ouverture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris (Act IV), Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm (Act II), and Schiller's Wallenstein's Lager. 1918 renamed Reußisches Theater. 1922 extension by a storage building. Closed 1944, re-opened Sep 1945 as Stadttheater. Stagehouse damaged by a fire in 1963, subsequently rebuilt and modernized. 1977 installation of a new organ in the concert hall. Ca.. 1992 restoration of the concert hall. 2005-2007 major exterior and interior restoration, and extension by a studio and rehearsal stage. - Used as one of the two main venues of the Theater & Philharmonie Thüringen opera and drama companies (see also: Altenburg: Landestheater).