Niederdeutsche Bühne Flensburg

The Niederdeutsche Bühne Flensburg is a theatre in the north German town of Flensburg. It stands beside the town’s old grammar school, where schoolboys first put on Low German plays in 1622. The stage has grown from those early school performances into a full theatre company. In 1886 a club called Victoria became the first organised group to stage Bauernspiele and local farces. By 1920 the Flensburger Speeldeel had formed, quickly turning from a loose band of players into a tight ensemble. The theatre has kept its Low German voice through every change. In 1926 the Speeldeel became the Niederdeutsche Bühne Flensburg. A city subsidy in 1974 turned it into a self-managing municipal theatre, and its first season drew more than 24 000 visitors. The stage has its own small house too: the Studio, opened in 1982 with 99 seats, built for chamber plays, readings, cabaret and experimental work, all still in Plattdeutsch. After 1995 the city withdrew its support, but a local association took over and kept the tradition alive. Today the theatre runs with one professional stage manager and four technical-artistic staff. About sixty volunteers make up the acting company. Each season brings seven new productions, mostly directed by professionals, and roughly 24 000 people come to see them. A support club founded in 1979 helps behind the scenes. In 2012 the stage received the Low German Literature Prize from the town of Kappeln.