Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar

Venues

Main House (Großes Haus), traditional main stage on Theaterplatz (music and theatre)

Foyer and Studio Stage (Studiobühne), within the main house on Theaterplatz (music and theatre; cabaret)

E-Werk Weimar, a former industrial site with two venues, Maschinensaal and Kesselsaal (music and theatre)

congresscentrum neue weimarhalle (concerts by the Staatskapelle Weimar)

The Staatskapelle Weimar

History

The precursor ensemble of Staatskapelle Weimar dates from 1482, with the formation of a musical ensemble in service of the Weimar Fürsten (Princes). In 1602, the ensemble attained resident status at the Weimar court, as the Herzoglichen Hofkapelle (Ducal Court Ensemble). Notable musicians in the early history of the Staatskapelle Weimar included Johann Hermann Schein (1615–1616) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1705, 1708–1717), both of whom went on to the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. Bach particularly worked as resident organist and Kapellmeister.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel served as the ensemble's Kapellmeister from 1819 to 1837, on the appointment by the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. Franz Liszt began his tenure as Kapellmeister in 1842, and championed the music of Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Peter Cornelius. Through this and his teaching activities, Liszt enhanced the prestige of Weimar as a musical hub, notably conducting the world premieres of Wagner's Lohengrin in 1850 and Cornelius's Der Barbier von Bagdad in 1858.

After Liszt left in 1858, he was succeeded by Eduard Lassen who remained as director until his retirement in 1895. Lassen conducted several world premieres during his tenure, including the first performance of Camille Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila in 1877. Richard Strauss served as second Kapellmeister under Lassen from 1889 to 1894 and led the premieres of his own Guntram and Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.

Peter Raabe became Kapellmeister in 1907. With the end of World War I and the dismantling of the German Empire, the ensemble was renamed the Weimar Staatskapelle.

Artistically, the Court Theatre under the directorship of Carl von Schirach (1909–1918), who relied on a classically oriented programme, made little of a name for itself. Nevertheless, it became a place of worship for the conservative educated middle class. On 9 November 1918, on the occasion of the 100th performance of Mary Stuart and the day of the proclamation of the republic in Germany, a scandal occurred: the performance was interrupted when the audience chanted: Nieder mit der monarchistischen Theaterei! Jetzt machen wir Theater! With the November Revolution and the subsequent abdication of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst, the Weimar theatre developed into a stage for political self-dramatisation. Schirach was deposed by the provisional state government of the Free State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the Court Theatre was renamed the State Theatre, and the Court Orchestra was now called the Weimar State Orchestra. On 1 January 1919, the writer Ernst Hardt was appointed as the new artistic director. On 19 January, the day of the elections to the constituent German National Assembly, Hardt announced the renaming of the theatre, which was henceforth to be called the German National Theatre Weimar.

General music directors

Hermann Abendroth (1945–1956)

Gerhard Pflüger (1957–1973)

Lothar Seyfarth (1973–1979)

Rolf Reuter (1979–1980)

Peter Gülke (1981–1982)

Hans-Peter Frank (1988–1996)

George Alexander Albrecht (1996–2002)

Jac van Steen (2002–2005)

Carl St.Clair (2005–2008)

Stefan Solyom (2009–2016)

Kirill Karabits (2016–2019)

Dominik Beykirch (2023–2025)

Daniel Carter (2025–present)