Hansa-Theater

The Hansa-Theater stood in Berlin-Moabit on Alt-Moabit. It began as a festival hall built by the Kronenbrauerei in 1888, with space for 424 seated and 1,364 standing patrons. By 1889 it had become the Stadttheater Moabit, staging folk plays and operettas. In 1923 it reopened as the Filmpalast Hansa, a cinema with about 1,000 seats. After the cinema closed in 1961, the building returned to theatre use in 1963 when Paul Esser founded the Schauspielhaus Hansa. The theatre became famous for its star-studded comedies. Stars such as Axel von Ambesser, Eddi Arent, Dagmar Biener, Marlene Dietrich, Heinz Erhardt and Brigitte Mira appeared on its stage. Under Horst Niendorf, who took charge in 1981, it remained the leading boulevard theatre in West Berlin. Later directors tried to refresh the repertoire with film adaptations and musicals, but financial support was withdrawn in 2002. The final artistic director, HP Trauschke, ran the Engelbrot project from 2007 until the theatre closed in 2009. The auditorium had a balcony and plush stalls seating. The proscenium stage faced a traditional painted backdrop. Behind the building lay the theatre’s yard, where rehearsals and small events once took place. After decades of performances by comedians and operetta singers, the theatre was demolished in May 2020 to make way for new flats.