Mondpalast

The Mondpalast stands in Wanne-Eickel, a district of Herne in the Ruhr region. It occupies the former Kaisersaal and Stadtgartensaal, a 1911 building in Wilhelminian Jugendstil. The theatre was opened in January 2004 by Christian Stratmann, brother of the cabaret artist Ludger Stratmann. Stratmann left his earlier theatre in Essen to focus on the Mondpalast. The house’s fixed ensemble performs plays written mainly by Ruhr author Sigi Domke. Thomas Rech, founding intendant and director, has led the theatre since its first night. The Mondpalast is recognised as one of Germany’s largest folk theatres, with over 800 000 visitors since opening. In October 2009 the German President Horst Köhler attended a performance of the football comedy Ronaldo & Julia. The theatre also inspired the name of DSC Wanne-Eickel’s stadium, the Mondpalast-Arena. A book by Thomas Rech, Der Prinzipal und ich, appeared in 2021, offering an insider’s view of the theatre’s life. Inside, the theatre’s main hall seats 500. The adjoining Palastkantine serves meals before shows and during intervals. The best-known production is Ronaldo & Julia, a Ruhr-style Romeo and Juliet about rival football fans. Since 2007 the Silvester sketch Dinner for Wan(ne) has been televised each New Year’s Eve. The stage has also hosted guest performances on Norderney and in Dortmund, Gladbeck and Unna.