Theater in Hamburg - a long and varied history
The whole theater began in the 18th century.
When the Altona Theater was founded on Palmaille in 1783, no one could have imagined that theater in Hamburg would have such a long and successful history. But almost 240 years later, it is clear that art and culture have become an indispensable part of the city – even though the cultural scene in Hamburg could not rely on an active cultural policy until the 1930s. But thanks to a great deal of personal initiative and the involvement of citizens and patrons, theater in Hamburg is popular across all social classes today – and is also subject to constant further development. This culminates in the OPOLUM in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt warehouse district.
Theater in Hamburg - the beginnings
After the Altona Theater was founded in Hamburg, nothing followed for a long time. It was not until 59 years later, in 1842, that the Thalia Theater Hamburg was added. But here, too, it would be a long time before the theater movement really took off: A further 51 years later, the Harburg Theater marked the start of the spring of theater in Hamburg.
The century of the theater
Just in time for the turn of the century, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, now the largest spoken theater in Germany with 1,200 seats, was added in Hamburg’s St. Georg district. This was followed in 1902 by the Ohnsorg-Theater, a theater in Hamburg that promotes the recognition and knowledge of the Low German language (“Plattdeutsch”) through performances of plays in Low German. At the end of the First World War, the Hamburger Kammerspiele in Hamburg Eimsbüttel went one better. But then, for a long time, there were no more theater openings in Hamburg.
The heyday of theater in Hamburg
In 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, theater in Hamburg experienced a tremendous upswing: starting with the opening of the Theater im Zimmer, the Ernst Deutsch Theater (1951), the Theater an der Marschnerstraße (1956), the Allee-Theater (1968) and in 1975 “Das Schiff”, the only seaworthy ship theater in Europe, followed.
In 1976, The English Theatre of Hamburg opened, bringing original British and American plays to the stage. In 1982, Kampnagel, a theater in a former machine factory, continued, followed by the Alma Hoppe Lustspielhaus in 1984, the Komödie Winterhuder Fährhaus in 1988 and then the Imperial Theater in 1994.
Over the decades, more and more theaters gained a foothold in Hamburg, but … somehow something is still missing, isn’t it?
OPOLUM - The interactive theater in Hamburg
In 2018, the theater in Hamburg took the next big step by opening OPOLUM, the first immersive, interactive theater. No stages, no seats, but a journey through the storyline that involves the audience in the action and invites them to participate. Now you can not only watch, but also experience an exciting story in the midst of the actors and influence it yourself.
This is OPOLUM, the interactive theater in Hamburg.