Luebeck Theatre is one of the biggest theatres in
Schleswig-Holstein. Nowadays, it is run by the Theatre Luebeck GmbH, a company of
the Hanseatic city of Luebeck.
The theatre was built in the year AD 1909 in the Art Nouveau style. It replaced a previous
building from the 18th century in the Beckergrube street in the centre of Luebeck.
Donations by Luebeck`s patron Emil Possehl made the construction possible. The building was designed by
a Dresden architect named Martin Dülfer. The relief in the fascia of the sandstone
façade is a work by the sculptor George Roemer. In the middle of the façade, the god Apollo and
the nine muses are displayed. At the sides of the façade, comedy and tragedy are represented.
The triangular gable is carried by a group of statues, Caryatids and Atlants, a work by
the former Hamburg-based architectural sculptor, Karl Weinberger. In the 1990s,
Luebeck Theatre was extensively renovated.
The civic interest in drama and opera awoke in Luebeck at the Age of Enlightenment.
The first opera was performed on June 2, 1746 in the house of master carpenter
Schroeder, at the corner of Königstraße/Wahmstraße. The building that
used to be where today's Luebeck Theatre is, is described in detail in Thomas
Mann's novel “the Buddenbrooks”. The relationship between the
ensemble and the 19th century bourgeoisie is also described in the novel.
The proposal for the Luebeck Theatre originally included various divisions.
After the cessation of ballet, the theatre offered the "Chamber of Great
Plays" in-house, the "Studio Stage Musical Theatre, and theatre and concerts of
Luebeck Philharmonic. The careers of Herma Abendroth,
Wilhelm Furtwängler and Christoph von Dohnanyi -to mention a few- began here.
Fifty percent of the shares in the Luebeck Theatre GmbH are held by the Hanseatic
city of Luebeck: 12.5 percent each by the rural district of Lauenburg, the
rural district of Nordwest Mecklenburg, the merchantile community of Luebeck, and by the
Theaterfreunde Luebeck e. V.