Invention, Art, and the National Theater of Mannheim
Posted by admin - Categorized under: TravelIs it fair to call the city of Mannheim, Germany, a city of invention? Certainly, important inventions were made here, such as the first two-wheeled draisine in 1817 (a draisine is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, intended to transport crew and material needed to maintain a railway’s infrastructure). The draisine was built by Karl Drais. Mannheim is also the place where Karl Benz invented a three-wheeled vehicle in 1886, a vehicle that ran on a single cylinder of a petrol/gas engine, largely recognized today as the first automobile or motor car. If Mannheim is a city of invention, it’s also a city of art and theater, with its roots extending as far back as 1779, the date of origin of the oldest local theater in Germany.
The present day National Theatre Mannheim dates from 1957, operating as both a theater and opera company. The original National Theater, though, opened 231 years ago at the suggestion of Elector Palatine Carl Theodor.
Over the last three hundred years, Mannheim was at the center of original theater and new artistic styles developed in theater as well as dance and music. It was at the National Theater that Friedrich Schiller’s drama, The Robbers, was first performed in 1782. Today, the theater consists of three main venues, an Opera House, with 1,200 seats that’s used most often for operas, operettas and ballets.
There is also the Schauspielhaus, containing 800 seats, that’s utilized for smaller presentations, such as theater and chamber music. The third venue is the Schnawwl, a space designed for youth and children’s theater. Both the Opera House and Schauspielhaus are located under the same roof, sharing the same lobby.
If possible, travelers should time their visits to Mannheim and its hotels with theater festivals in mind. Since 1979, Mannheim has been the home of the Schillertage, a biannual festival of Schiller’s plays. The festival presents its work on the theater’s main stage (as well as putting on a production of experimental plays elsewhere). The main stage series, in the past, have featured a number of productions of his early work, such as The Robbers), and productions of Intrigue and Love, as well as later plays, such as William Tell, first performed in 1804, which became the inspiration for Rossini’s opera of the same name.
The next festival, the 16th Schillertage will occur in the summer of 2011, so there’s time to make arrangements.
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