Westflügel Leipzig

The Westflügel Leipzig stands in a quiet street in Leipzig’s Lindenau district. The building was erected in 1900 as a ballroom for the Gesellschaftshalle zu Lindenau, designed by architect Emil Franz Hänsel. After decades as a factory store it was restored in 2003 to house international puppet theatre. Today the Lindenfels Westflügel e. V. owns the site and runs it as a production centre and venue. The house matters because it revived a century-old ballroom and turned it into a hub for a living art form. Since 2003 it has staged theatre, concerts and exhibitions, with a focus on puppet theatre from around the world. Ensembles such as Wilde & Vogel and Lehmann und Wenzel work regularly in the building, supported by a network of artists including Neville Tranter and Miriam Goldschmidt. The theatre also runs workshops and shows how puppet shows are made. Inside, two halls of 190 square metres each offer different spaces. The lower hall is 4.60 metres high, the upper one 8.20 metres, once a dance floor. A restored Jugendstil vestibule leads to a foyer and a staircase with vaulted ceiling. The street entrance is closed by an iron gate from a former brewery. On the ground floor the Kulturbar froelich & herrlich serves drinks and small events, its profits helping the theatre’s work.