Theater in der Behrenstraße

The first theatre in Behrenstraße opened in 1765 at number 55 in Berlin-Mitte. Karl Theophil Döbbelin ran it during its golden years and made it one of Berlin’s earliest public theatres. The building stood on a narrow street near the royal palace, close to the fashionable Gendarmenmarkt. Döbbelin staged plays that drew Berlin’s growing middle class to the seats. His company performed comedies and tragedies that broke from courtly traditions. By the late 18th century the house had become a recognised stage for new German drama. In 1928 Ralph Arthur Roberts opened a second theatre next door at number 53/54. His house seated about 580 people and specialised in light boulevard plays. The building dated from 1910 and had once housed a variety theatre. Roberts himself wrote many of the plays, directed rehearsals and often acted the leading roles. The stage became known for fast-paced comedies and musical revues. Actors such as Maly Delschaft, Erik Ode and Kurt von Ruffin appeared there in the mid-1930s. Rudolf Platte and Michael Jivotovsky took over in 1940 and kept the theatre running until Allied bombs destroyed it in 1944. Today only the address remains, but the name still points to two lively chapters of Berlin theatre life. The first building saw the rise of bourgeois drama under Döbbelin’s leadership. The second, under Roberts, turned boulevard entertainment into an art form. Names like Alwin Neuß and Friedl Haerlin recall the actors who made these stages memorable. The short stretch of Behrenstraße once held two theatres that shaped Berlin’s cultural identity.