Theater an der Parkaue

Theater an der Parkaue stands in Berlin-Lichtenberg, occupying half of a large school building from the early 20th century. The U-shaped complex was designed by Johannes Uhlig and Wilhelm Grieme as a boys’ grammar school in 1910–11. Its Renaissance-style façade and attached rector’s house with a small wall fountain remain intact. After the Second World War the Soviet authorities converted the unused school into a cultural centre for children. Waldemar Alder and Waldemar Heinrichs planned the conversion, and German Werkstätten Hellerau supplied the fittings. The roof became a miniature observatory, while workshops for wood, metal and ceramics opened alongside a library, cinema and theatre. The building’s second life began in 1948 as the House of Children, later the Central House of the Young Pioneers named after cosmonaut German Titov. By 1982 more than two thousand children regularly attended 130 clubs led by thirty-eight full-time and ninety volunteer teachers. Activities ranged from ship modelling and cosmonaut club to symphony orchestra and puppet theatre. After reunification the Pioneers’ house closed, leaving many rooms empty until puppeteers and drama students moved in. Today the ensemble is a protected monument, its history visible in every corridor. Inside, four stages host plays for every age from four upwards. The largest is the former assembly hall of the Realgymnasium, now the main auditorium. Four theatre clubs and workshops invite young people to create their own performances. The building still shows traces of its varied past: the wall fountain in the rector’s house, the observatory dome on the roof, and the empty plinth where a Soviet aircraft once stood. Outside, the Hans-Rodenberg-Platz marks the theatre’s entrance, named for the first intendant of the Theatre of Friendship.