Stadttheater Aschaffenburg

The Stadttheater Aschaffenburg stands in the heart of the old town, a classical building whose Empire-style auditorium is counted among the finest in southern Germany. It was commissioned in 1811 by Karl Theodor von Dalberg, then prince-primate, and built on the site of earlier estates. The Renaissance “Kronberger Hof” wings were absorbed into the new structure, giving the theatre its distinctive three-wing shape. A ballroom called the Deutschhaussaal was added beside it, its façade also in classical style. The whole complex was designed by Frankfurt architects and decorated by local painters. The theatre quickly became a cultural centre after its opening on 3 November 1811 with a four-act play by Vogel. Under its first director, Joseph Schemenauer from Bamberg, it presented Schiller’s Wilhelm Tell and Mozart’s operas Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte within a year. In the 1850s the Würzburger Operngesellschaft gave a ten-day season of Mozart, Weber and Donizetti. A golden age arrived under director Johann Carl Schubert from 1872 to 1888, when touring companies from Würzburg, Hanau, Mainz and Darmstadt filled the house nightly. The 1930s saw cooperation with Hanau, pooling resources until war ended performances in July 1944. Today the theatre offers three stages: the main auditorium with 430 seats and 30 standing places, a studio stage for 150 and a smaller third stage for 100. A two-storey foyer leads to the auditorium, and a restaurant called Jedermann occupies the ground floor. The Empire-painted auditorium survives as a jewel of early 19th-century design. Outside, the Karlsplatz in front preserves the name given to honour Dalberg in 1835.