The Burgtheater (known locally as the Burg) was built from 1874 to 1888 off the designs of Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer. The roots of the theater trace back to 1741 when an entrepreneur wanted to convert a disguised building on the Michaelerplatz into a stage. Despite the blessing of Empress Maria Theresa, the theatre struggled to establish itself. However, Emperor Joseph II founded the Court and National Theater in 1776, and it became the Burgehater in 1918.
Since its early years, the Burg held a leading position in dramatic arts for German speaking countries. The years following 1776 were the times of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and three of his operas had their premieres in the theater. With the arrival of the Nazis in the 1930s, Jewish members of the theater company were removed and performances were made to begin with a Nazi salute from an attending officer or party members. The influence of the regime was visible on stage as well. In 1943, the Burgtheater featured a tilted version of William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, a heavily controversial play due to its anti-Semitic interpretation. The character of Shylock was played by Nazi actor Werner Krauss.
In the 1950s the building underwent restoration and went back to being a famous and quality filled theater. Today, it is the Austrian National Theatre and it one of the most famous German language theatres in the world. Despite the physical damage received during World War II as well as the negative cultural influences, the theater was awarded “Theater of the Year” from 2014-2015 by the German language journal “Theater heute.”
Sources cited:
Muza. (n.d.). Burgtheater. Vienna. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.viennaitineraries.com/Burgtheater.html
History of the Burgtheater. Visiting Vienna. (2022, June 6). Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.visitingvienna.com/entertainment/theaters/burgtheaterhistory/#:~:text=The%20Burgtheater%20traces%20its%20roots,theatre%20struggled%20to%20establish%20itself.
History of Burgtheater in Vienna. (n.d.). Retrieved September, 2022, from https://www.wienvienna.com/burgtheater-history/
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