Mainfranken Theater Würzburg

The Mainfranken Theater stands in Würzburg’s old town as the city’s main stage for opera, plays, ballet and concerts. Its two houses, the Great House for music theatre and ballet and the Little House for drama, sit side by side in the Altstadt. The theatre began life in 1804 as the Würzburger Stadttheater and became the Mainfranken Theater in 1999. In 2019 it was raised to the rank of a Bavarian State Theatre, the sixth in the state.

The building has shaped local culture for more than two centuries. Richard Wagner worked here as a young man, composing early pieces and later returning to conduct. His great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner made her operatic directorial debut on this stage in 2002. The theatre survived wartime destruction in 1945 and reopened in 1946, later moving to a new building in 1966. Today it is led by Intendant Markus Trabusch, with Enrico Calesso as General Music Director and Berthold Warnecke as Opera Director.

Visitors find a freshly rebuilt complex. The Little House, opened in 2023, seats 330 and hosts plays, while the Great House seats 738 for operas and ballets. A new rehearsal stage seats 125. During rebuilding, performances moved to scattered interim venues across the city. The theatre’s history is visible in every corner, from the grand foyer to the modern rehearsal spaces.