Stadttheater Lindau

The Stadttheater Lindau stands in the old Barfüßerkirche, a 13th-century Franciscan church beside Lake Constance. The building began as a monastery church, enlarged in the late 13th century into a three-aisled hall church with a late-Gothic choir finished in 1380. On its south wall survives a 1516 fresco of the Last Judgement by Mathis Miller, a reminder of its earlier life. After the Reformation the church became a salt store, then an armoury, library and gymnasium before being turned to culture in 1868. The present theatre occupies the former choir, while the nave shelters a modern auditorium and two tiers of boxes. The house is worth the journey for its layered history and lively programme. It reopened in 1951 after conversion by architect Robert Braun, who kept the Gothic choir for the Marionettenoper and built a 688-seat auditorium in 1950s style. Since 2011 the theatre has increased subscriptions by 60 per cent and hosts the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. International ensembles such as the Berliner Ensemble and the Vienna Philharmonic regularly appear, while young singers train in summer opera projects with Schlossoper Haldenstein. Inside, the 1950s foyer with its original fixtures leads to the auditorium where a relief of Thalia on Pegasus crowns the oval ceiling. The stage retains medieval wall paintings and a deep orchestra pit. Upstairs, the Marionettenoper’s permanent stage presents operas with around 500 hand-built puppets. The building thus offers both contemporary performances and quiet echoes of its past as a monastery, armoury and concert hall.