Theater landscapes

The first route in Koblenz almost always leads to the Deutsches Eck, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine.
Kaiser Wilhelm is enthroned high above and looks across to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.
He fought three wars to unify Germany, was first erected here in 1897 - and was deliberately blown off his pedestal by an American bomb in 1945.
After the night of the bombing in 1944, not much was left of Koblenz, but the theater was saved, with only water damage to repair.
And so it was able to reopen in the summer of 1946.
In the 1980s, the building is then extensively renovated - the original state from 1787 according to the designs of Peter Josef Krahe, including artistic illusion painting, is brought back to life.

In general, the Theater Koblenz is characterized by continuity: There have only been six artistic directors since the war and most of them have stayed in Koblenz for a very long time, Hannes Houska even for over 20 years.
In the 1980s, he brought the young dramaturge and director Thirza Bruncken to Koblenz, who quickly attracted attention in the national feature pages.
Her specialty: premiering unwieldy texts.
In her directorship at Theater Koblenz, Annegret Ritzel focuses primarily on big plays and big names, bringing important guests to Koblenz - and opera to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress: "Aida" and "Fidelio" as gigantic open-air spectacles.
Today, Markus Dietze is the director of the oldest surviving Rangtheater in Germany, the youngest director the Theater Koblenz has ever had.

First broadcast: March 2, 2010, 7:00 p.m., ZDFtheaterkanal.