Theater landscapes

But Kassel has much more to offer: Germany's oldest theater building is located here. Under Landgrave Moritz the Learned, the first closed theater building in Germany was built in 1605. Until the 19th century, the building was primarily characterized by musical theater. Louis Spohr, who was one of the greatest violinists of his time alongside Paganini, was a conductor and opera composer in Kassel. Gustav Mahler was also at the Kassel court theater. In 1909, the city was given a new theater building with the help of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who used Wilhelmshöhe Palace as his summer residence.

But the splendor soon came to an end.
After the Second World War, 80 percent of Kassel's residential buildings lay in ruins and Kassel was one of the most heavily destroyed cities in Germany.
There is hardly anything left of the half-timbered, magnificent and patrician houses and the theater is also in ruins.
The question that arose at the time was the same as in other cities in the country: Should everything be rebuilt as it was before or is the new beginning after the war also reflected in the architecture and urban planning.
The decision is made in favor of the new building: Kassel gets the largest theater in Germany at the time.
And a new city was created at the same time.
A city with a rather austere architectural and urban charm.
Like many other German cities, it was to be car-friendly, square, practical and good, which was considered modern at the time.
So modern, in fact, that Kassel was given Germany's first official pedestrian zone.

In many respects, the 1950s were a time of new beginnings.
This also includes the documenta.
As a supporting program to the Federal Garden Show, an exhibition is opened that presents art that the Nazis had labeled "degenerate".
In the 1968s, Kassel then had its very contemporary theater scandal: the atmosphere was ignited by a production of "Lysistrata", for which Niki de Saint Phalle, who was also a documenta participant at the time, designed the set - with her typical colorful enlargements of genitals.
Long gone are the days when audiences left the auditorium banging doors because of such a stage set; today it takes more than that to drive the people of Kassel out of their theater.

In the current episode "Theater Landscapes", Esther Schweins takes us through Wilhelmshöhe Palace Park and to Kassel's landmark, the Hercules, Hans Eichel talks about his school days in Kassel and the debates about the new theater building after the war and Otto Sander talks about the beginnings of his acting career on the stage of the Staatstheater Kassel.

First broadcast: May 1, 2010, 7:00 p.m., ZDFtheaterkanal.