City Theater Grein

The Stadttheater Grein stands in the Upper Austrian town of Grein. It occupies a converted 1563 grain store in the town hall, built in the late-Rococo style after alterations finished in 1791. The building is the oldest regularly used municipal theatre in Austria and a stop on the Kaiser-Route of Historic Theatres. The theatre is worth visiting for its 167 seats, including original lockable boxes, and the survival of unusual fixtures such as the side-niche toilet behind a curtain. It has hosted plays almost continuously since 1791, first by local amateurs and later by touring companies. In 1992 it became a venue for the Grein Dilettant Society, and from 1989 to 2012 it presented the Leopold-Wandl Prize for Austrian dialect poetry and prose. Inside, visitors find the intimate auditorium with its painted decorations and the preserved lockable seats in the front rows. The side room once served as a makeshift dressing room under strict rules. Outside, the theatre forms part of the historic town hall ensemble beside the Danube, linking Grein’s theatrical tradition to its riverside setting.