Chronology

970-980 Roswitha of Gandersheim writes six comedies in Latin at the Brunshausen Cloister, near Braunschweig.

1185-1240 Neidhart von Reuental's poems presumably become the basis for several Neidhartspiele, comic interludes in Middle High German featuring conflicts between peasant and knight.

1220 Religious plays begin to appear in Middle High German, the earliest of which was probably The Easter Play of Mary.

1300-1400 Vasnachtspile, or Shrovetide plays, emerge in Early New High German and Germanic dialects from native practices in or around Lübeck, Hessia near the Rhine, Sterzing in Tyrol (present-day Italy), Swabia, and Eger (present-day Czech Republic).

1430-1460 Hans Rosenplüt is among the first Shrovetide playwrights in Nuremberg.

1455 Evidence of touring troupes staging passion plays and secular folk plays in Tyrol.

1493 Passion play in Frankfurt am Main established.

1501 Konrad Celtis publishes works of Roswitha and stages plays by Terence, Plautus, and Seneca with students at University of Vienna.

1514 Passion play in Heidelberg established.

1517 Protestant Reformation begins in Wittenberg; amateurs write and produce scores of plays attacking Roman Catholic Church practices, among them Martin Luther's student Paul Rebhun.

1550 Hans Sachs creates first German theater building—St. Martha's Church in Nuremberg, an expropriated Catholic church—and presents dozens of his Shrovetide plays there.

1551 Jesuits arrive in Vienna; they establish a school there in 1553 and employ staging of plays in the curriculum.

1568 Italian commedia troupe under the direction of Orlando di Lassi arrives in Munich; several other commedia troupes follow them to Munich in subsequent years.

1570-1588 Jesuit schools in Graz, Munich, and other southern locales present interludes in vernacular.

1576 Death of Sachs in Nuremberg; he claimed to have written more than 200 plays.

1583 Passion play of Lucerne established.

1586 Arrival of English Comedians on German soil by way of Denmark; they establish professional standards which German performers attempt to emulate.

1592 Duke Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig invites English actors to perform at his court in Wolfenbüttel. Robert Browne takes a London troupe to Frankfurt am Main and tours Hessia.

1606 Count Moritz in Kassel builds a theater for English troupes, with John Greene and his troupe in residence.

1608 Greene's troupe travels to Graz and other southern cities.

1618-1648 Thirty Years' War devastates most of German-speaking Europe. Touring nearly stops, but Jesuit and Protestant school productions continue and some courts mount amateur theatricals.

1634 Passion play at Oberammergau established.

1650-1658 Andreas Gryphius writes tragedies and comedies, which, though unperformed, serve as the first literary models of drama.

1660-1700 Several touring troupes attempt to establish themselves in cities and courts; their amateurish productions of Haupt- und Staatsaktion plays are ridiculed, as are the plays themselves. Character of "Hanswurst" emerges as a Teutonic Arlecchino who improvises during interludes of Haupt- und Staatsaktion plays.

1662-1677 Johannes Velthen joins Carl Andreas Paulsen's troupe of actors and tours northern Germany.

1678 Velthen assumes leadership of Paulsen troupe, renaming it the "Elector of Saxony's Players"; their repertoire exceeds 90 plays, many based on English models, and they reside in Dresden.

1683 Turks lay siege to Vienna. Josef Anton Stranitzky originates Viennese version of Hanswurst, touring southern German and Austrian provinces. Theater im Marstall in Berlin becomes a facility for touring troupes.

1705 Stranitzky arrives in Vienna with his German Players troupe.

1711 Stranitzky's troupe awarded lease of Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna, the first permanent private theater in German-speaking Europe.

1725 Gottfried Prehauser arrives in Vienna as a member of Stranitzky's troupe; he develops the Salzburg version of Hanswurst.

1725-1730 Johann Christoph Gottsched in Leipzig publishes articles, essays, and books calling for reform of German-language theater. Friederike Caroline Weisenborn Neuber and her husband Johann Neuber are named court players in Saxony and establish residency in Leipzig. Heinrich Gottfried Koch joins Neuber troupe.

1730 Johann Friedrich Schönemann joins Neuber troupe.

1732 Neuber troupe performs Gottsched's The Dying Cato as part of reform movement to upgrade German aesthetic standards for spoken drama based on French precedents; Carl Theophil Döbbelin plays title role.

1737 Neuber and Gottsched hold a ceremony in Leipzig to ban Hanswurst from the German stage.

King Frederick the Great of Prussia initiates First Silesian War and defeats Austria, making Silesia a Prussian territory.

Koch and Schönemann form their own troupes and emulate Neuber's attempts to improve status of the German actor; Koch awarded Neuber's license to perform in Prussia. Habsburg empress

Maria Theresa leases reception hall adjacent to her royal palace to Karl Josef Selliers for the purpose of presenting plays to her court, and the hall comes to be known as the Burgtheater.

1743 Prussian court awards Schönemann troupe a general license to perform in all Prussian provinces.

1748 Neuber's troupe premieres Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's The Young Scholar; Schönemann publishes the plays in his company's repertoire.

1751 Schönemann's troupe named court players for the Duke of Schwerin, allowing them to concentrate on touring mostly in northern Germany.

1753 Prussian court awards Konrad Ernst Ackermann a concession to build his own theater building in Königsberg. Ackermann premieres Lessing's Miss Sara Sampson in Potsdam. Döbbelin establishes troupe in Erfurt. Frederick the Great initiates Seven Years' War and captures Saxony. Russian army defeats Prussians near Königsberg, forcing Ackermann troupe to abandon its theater there. Prussian army defeats French at Rossbach and Austrians at Leuthen. Russian troops take 13-year-old Friedrich Ludwig Schröder into custody. Koch assumes leadership of Schönemann's troupe. Prussian army defeats Russians at Zorndorf. Lessing publishes Letters Concerning Recent Literature to refute Gottsched's Francophilia. Russian army captures and occupies Berlin. Konrad Ekhof joins Ackermann's troupe in Hannover. Ackermann builds Komödienhaus in Hamburg. Koch builds Leipzig's first permanent theater building. Johann Friedrich Löwen publishes first history of German theater. Christoph Martin Wieland completes 20 translations of Shakespeare's plays into German prose and one (A Midsummer Night's Dream) into verse.

1767 Ackermann leases Komödienhaus to Löwen, who names it Hamburg National Theater. Löwen hires Lessing as dramaturg along with many actors from Ackermann's troupe, Ekhof the most important among them. Sonnenfels publishes attacks on Viennese popular theater tradition, calling for reform similar to Gottsched and Neu-ber's. Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm premieres at Hamburg National Theater.

1769 Lessing publishes his Hamburg Dramaturgy, based on his observations of the Hamburg National Theater project, which soon disbands. Döbbelin buys Berlin's Theater am Monjoubiplatz. Koch buys Theater in der Behrenstrasse in Berlin. Schröder assumes leadership of Ackermann's troupe in Hamburg. Döbbelin's troupe premieres Lessing's Emilia Galotti in Braunschweig.

Ekhof with Abel Seyler establish the first permanent German-language subsidized court theater in Gotha. Schröder premieres Johann Wolfgang Goethe's Clavigo in Hamburg. Koch premieres Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen in Berlin.

Döbbelin buys Theater in der Behrenstrasse in Berlin from Koch. Johann Joachim Eschenburg publishes translations of Shakespeare's plays into German prose.

French court troupes perform in Berlin's French Comedy Theater. Schröder premieres Friedrich Klinger's The Twins in Hamburg. Habsburg emperor Joseph II decrees Burgtheater to be the "Teutsches Nationaltheater" (German National Theater).

Klinger's Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) premieres in Dresden, ushering in a new movement; Schröder premieres Storm and Stress plays by Klinger, Jakob Lenz, and Heinrich Leopold Wagner in Hamburg. Ekhof hires August Wilhelm Iffland in Gotha.

Prussian court names Döbbelin's troupe National Prussian Players and installs them in Berlin's French Comedy Theater until 1786.

Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg hires Iffland in Mannheim; Gotha court theater disbanded.

Schröder joins Burgtheater. Karl Marinelli builds Leopoldstädter Theater in Vienna.

Dalberg premieres Friedrich Schiller's The Robbers in Mannheim.

Döbbelin premieres Lessing's Nathan the Wise in Berlin. Dalberg appoints Schiller resident dramatist in Mannheim.

Dalberg premieres Schiller's Intrigue and Love and Fiesko in Mannheim with Iffland as central character in both.

Schröder returns to Hamburg. Iffland engages Ferdinand Fleck in Mannheim. King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia buys inventory of Theater in der Behrenstrasse from Döbbelin.

Schröder premieres Schiller's Don Carlos in Hamburg. Friedrich Wilhelm II installs Döbbelin's troupe in Berlin Royal Opera House and creates Prussian Royal National Theater.

Goethe returns to Weimar from two-year sojourn in Italy. Karl Meyer builds Josephstädter Theater in Vienna.

Schiller appointed adjunct professor at University of Jena. Joseph II appoints Johann Franz Brockmann the Burgtheater's director. August von Kotzebue's Misanthropy and Repentance premieres in Reval.

Joseph Bellomo's troupe premieres Goethe's Egmont in Weimar.

Goethe appointed director of Weimar Court Theater.

1794 Burgtheater in Vienna receives official name: "Royal and Imperial Court Theater Adjacent the Burg."

Iffland appointed director of Prussian Royal National Theater in Berlin.

August Wilhelm Schlegel begins translations of Shakespeare.

1799 Schiller takes up residence in Weimar; Goethe premieres Schiller's "Wallenstein Trilogy" (Wallenstein's Camp, a prelude; The Piccolominis; and Wallenstein's Death) in Weimar. Iffland stages Schlegel's translation of Hamlet in Berlin.

Goethe premieres Schiller's Maria Stuart and Schiller's translation of Macbeth in Weimar. Napoleon's troops defeat Austrians in the Battle of Marengo; French troops occupy Munich.

Schiller's The Maid of Orleans premieres in Leipzig. Emanuel Schikaneder opens Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Austria capitulates to Napoleon; Austria and Prussia cede left bank of the Rhine River to France.

Goethe premieres Schiller's adaptation of his Iphegenie auf Tau-ris in Weimar.

Goethe premieres Schiller's The Bride of Messina in Weimar. Napoleon occupies Vienna.

Goethe premieres Schiller's William Tell in Weimar.

Schiller dies in Weimar. Austria cedes Bavaria and parts of Austria itself to Napoleon; duchies of Württemberg and Baden are declared kingdoms.

Napoleon defeats Prussians in the Battle of Jena near Weimar, then captures and occupies Berlin; he establishes Confederation of the Rhine, eventually consisting of all German-speaking states except Austria, Prussia, Braunschweig, and Hessen.

Goethe's Torquato Tasso premieres in Weimar. Treaty of Tilsit obliges Prussia to cede half its territory to Napoleon. French acting troupe occupies Berlin Royal Theater. French troops arrest Heinrich von Kleist.

François-Joseph Talma makes sojourn to Weimar in Napoleon's retinue; he and Théâtre Français troupe perform at Weimar Court Theater. Kleist meets with Ludwig Tieck in Dresden. Goethe premieres The Broken Jug in Weimar.

French troops depart Berlin. Goethe stages Schlegel's translation of Hamlet in Weimar with Pius Alexander Wolff in title role.

1811 Prussian court issues new theater regulations, officially declaring troupes private businesses under jurisdiction of local law enforcement authorities.

French armies defeat combined Austrian, Prussian, and Russian forces at Battle of Dresden in August. In October, Napoleon loses Battle of Leipzig and retreats across the Rhine, freeing German-speaking territories.

Iffland engages Ludwig Devrient as leading actor at Berlin Royal Theater. Joseph Schreyvogel assumes leadership of Vienna Burgtheater.

King Frederick William III of Prussia promises a constitution; he reorganizes Prussian bureaucracy and forms customs union.

Goethe resigns as director of Weimar Court Theater.

German Confederation (comprised of 39 German-speaking states and four free cities) declared at Congress of Vienna; Frankfurt am Main chosen as its capital.

German Confederation adopts Carlsbad Decrees, requiring local police to approve any play and supervise rehearsals and performances. Kotzebue murdered; soon thereafter thousands of productions of his plays proliferate.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel-designed Königliches Schauspielhaus (Royal Theater) in Berlin completed.

Tieck publishes plays by Kleist; Prince Friedrich of Homburg premieres at Burgtheater.

1824 Friedrich Cerf builds Königstädtisches Theater am Alexanderplatz in Berlin and begins staging Louis Angely's comedies there.

Carl leases Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

Carl leases Theater in der Josephstadt and hires both Johann Nepomuk Nestroy and Wenzel Scholz.

Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer's first play, Herma, premieres in Vienna.

August Ernst Klingemann stages first performance of complete version of Goethe's Faust, Part 1 in Braunschweig.

1837 Birch-Pfeiffer begins her management of Zurich City Theater.

1838 Carl buys Theater in der Josephstadt. Carl premieres Nestroy's Out on a Lark. The Great Fire of Hamburg destroys most of the city's theaters. Tieck presents A Midsummer Night's Dream on a platform stage in Potsdam with music by Felix Mendelssohn. Carl premieres Nestroy's Love Affairs and Wedding Bells. Deutscher Bühnen Verein (German Theater League), an association of theater owners and managers, formed. Bogumil Dawison gets first professional German-language engagement, in Breslau. Friedrich Hebbel's Maria Magdalena premieres in Leipzig. Carl levels Theater in der Josephstadt and builds the Carl Theater in its place. March revolutions in Berlin and Vienna. Prussian cabinet issues decree that would end theater censorship. Friedrich-Wilhelm Deichmann gets license to establish a "casino" on Schumann Strasse in Berlin; it later becomes an important theater. Heinrich Laube assumes directorship of the Burgtheater; Dawi-son emerges as star of the company. Berlin police chief Karl Friedrich von Hinckeldey issues decree that police must supervise theater rehearsals and report on "anything that looks suspicious." Franz Dingelstedt becomes intendant at Munich Court Theater. Hebbel's Agnes Bernauer premieres at Burgtheater. Carl dies; Nestroy takes over Carl Theater. First complete performance of Goethe's Faust, Part 2, in Hamburg. Roderich Benedix becomes director of the Frankfurt am Main City Theater. Franz Wallner leases Theater in der Blumenstrasse in Berlin, later renaming it after himself.

1861 Hebbel's The Nibelungs premieres in Weimar.

1864 Ludwig Barnay begins his career at the Burgtheater.

1865 Wallner builds splendid new theater in Berlin, again naming it after himself.

1867 Friedrich Mitterwurzer debuts at Burgtheater.

1869 Prussian Royal Cabinet enacts the Business Freedom Act, removing all restrictions except censorship on theater practice.

German Empire formed, with Prussian king Wilhelm I as emperor. Dingelstedt named director of Burgtheater. Ludwig Chronegk appointed director of the Meiningen Theater.

Laube premieres Franz Grillparzer's Fraternal Guile within the House of Habsburg at Vienna City Theater.

Theodor Lebrun premieres Mein Leopold by Adolph L'Arronge at Wallner Theater.

First tours of the Meininger troupe to Berlin and other major German cities.

In Weimar, Otto Devrient stages first complete performance of both parts of Faust.

Richard Wagner's Festival Playhouse opens in Bayreuth. 1878 Ernst Possart becomes director of Munich Court Theater.

Adolf Wilbrandt appointed director of the Burgtheater.

Agnes Sorma makes Berlin debut, at Deutsches Theater.

L'Arronge buys Friedrich-Wilhelmstädtisches Theater, renaming it Deutsches Theater; he hires Josef Kainz as his leading performer.

Franz and Paul von Schönthan's The Rape of the Sabine Women premieres, eventually to become the German theater's most frequently performed comedy.

Georg II, Duke of Saxony-Meiningen, premieres Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts in Meiningen.

Andre Antoine's Théâtre Libre performs in Berlin.

Oskar Blumenthal builds the Lessing Theater in Berlin and presents first unabridged version of Ibsen's A Doll's House there.

Otto Brahm stages Ibsen's Ghosts in Berlin under the auspices of the Freie Bühne.

Max Burckhard assumes directorship of Burgtheater. The Schöller Boardinghouse premieres in Berlin.

Gerhart Hauptmann's The Beaver Coat premieres in Berlin. Charley's Aunt premieres in Berlin with Guido Thielscher in title role.

Brahm begins 10-year lease of Deutsches Theater from L'Arronge and premieres Hauptmann's The Weavers; Kaiser Wilhelm II publicly denounces the play, forbids all German military officers from attending any performances, and dismisses the judge who granted permission for play's public performance.

First premiere of any Georg Büchner play (Leonce and Lena, in Berlin). Paul Lindau becomes intendant of Meiningen Theater. Arthur Schnitzler's Loving premieres at Burgtheater.

Karl Lautenschläger installs first German stage revolve, based on 18th-century Japanese models.

Blumenthal premieres his White Horse Inn at his Lessing Theater. Otto Gebühr makes debut at Dresden Court Theater. Paul Schlen-ther appointed director of Burgtheater. Kleist's Amphytrion premieres at Neues Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin. Kainz joins Burgtheater company. Julius Bab begins career as theater critic in Berlin. Deutsches Schauspielhaus completed in Hamburg. Siegfried Jacobsohn begins career as critic in Berlin. Max Reinhardt forms "Noise and Smoke" cabaret. Reinhardt premieres Frank Wedekind's Earth Spirit, with Gertrud Eysoldt as Lulu, at Kleines Theater, Berlin. Berlin's underground and surface rail transportation system completed, allowing a substantial increase in audience accessibility to theaters. Alexander Moissi makes Berlin debut, at Neues Theater under Reinhardt's direction. Tilla Durieux makes Berlin debut. Louise Dumont founds Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus with Lindemann. Monty Jacobs begins career as critic in Berlin. Reinhardt premieres Wedekind's Spring's Awakening. Reinhardt buys Deutsches Theater from L'Arronge. Ferdinand Bonn debuts the first of his Sherlock Holmes adaptations in Berlin. Georg Fuchs opens Munich Artists' Theater.

Alfred Kerr begins career as critic in Berlin. Hermann Bahr's The Concert premieres in Berlin. Curt Goetz makes Berlin debut. Emil Jannings makes acting debut at a dinner theater in Bohemia. Fritz Kortner debuts in Mannheim. Carl Sternheim's The Underpants premieres in Frankfurt am Main. Paul Fechter becomes lead theater critic for the Berlin Vossische Zeitung. Kleist Prize Foundation established in Berlin. Hauptmann awarded Nobel Prize for literature. Munich Kammerspiele established. Werner Krauss makes Berlin acting debut under Reinhardt at Deutsches Theater. Viktor Barnowsky leases Lessing Theater. Reinhardt premieres Sternheim's Citizen Schippel. Otto Falckenberg begins directing career in Munich. Büchner's Woyzeck premieres at Munich Court Theater. German Empire embarks on invasion of France, and World War I begins. Berlin Volksbühne opens. Ernst Deutsch debuts at Vienna Volksbühne. Gustav Hartung named principal director at Frankfurt City Theaters. Falckenberg stages premiere of Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata in Munich. Agnes Straub makes Berlin debut. Sternheim awarded Fontane Prize. Erich Ziegel establishes Hamburg Kammerspiele.

Falckenberg stages premiere of Georg Kaiser's From Morn to Midnight in Munich. Reinhardt premieres Reinhard Johannes Sorge's The Beggar in Berlin. Heinrich George debuts in Frankfurt. Walter Hasenclever awarded Kleist Prize. Reichstag passes Act of Parliamentary Rule, denying Kaiser Wilhelm II authority to act without its permission; Wilhelm II abdicates, and a republic is declared from the window of the Reich Chancellery. Revolution breaks out in Berlin streets. Baden and Bavaria become "people's republics." "Spartacus Uprising" begins as Communists occupy several Berlin newspaper offices and attempt to monopolize information flow out of the city. Leopold Jessner appointed intendant of newly renamed Berlin State Theater. Hermine Körner becomes director of Munich Schauspielhaus. Reinhardt, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and others establish Salzburg Festival. Heinz Hilpert and Kortner make Berlin acting debuts in Ernst Toller's The Transformation. Reinhardt buys Busch Circus in Berlin and transforms it into the Grosses Schauspielhaus. Saladin Schmitt becomes director of Bochum Schauspielhaus. Toller sentenced to five years in prison for revolutionary activities. Berlin incorporates surrounding towns and villages to become "Greater Berlin," covering the largest land surface of any city in the world (214,977 acres). Gustaf Gründgens makes professional debut in Halberstadt. Rudolf Forster begins Berlin career with both Reinhardt and Jess-ner. Hartung stages his last Expressionist premiere in Frankfurt, Platz by Fritz von Unruh. Erwin Piscator opens his Proletarian Theater in Berlin. Toni Impekoven and Carl Mathern's The Tart opens in Frankfurt. Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach's The Reluctant Playboy becomes the first of a string of hits that earn them the nickname of "the firm of Arnold and Bach"; their plays are performed more often than any others through the 1920s. Goetz's Ingeborg premieres at Theater am Kurfürstendamm and Toller's Masse Mensch at Volksbühne. Jessner hires Jürgen Fehling as principal director at Berlin State Theater. Falckenberg stages premiere of Bertolt Brecht's Drums in the Night in Munich. Elisabeth Bergner makes Berlin debut. Brecht awarded Kleist Prize. Ferdinand Bruckner leases Renaissance Theater in Berlin. Arnolt Bronnen's Patricide premieres at Deutsches Theater. Devastating monetary inflation severely reduces operations in most German theaters; Reinhardt begins his first American tour to avoid bankruptcy. Emil Pirchan designs Jessner's William Tell at Berlin State Theater with "Jessner steps," as he had earlier with Richard III. Berthold Viertel founds an informal group called "The Troupe" and premieres plays by Robert Musil, Paul Gurk, and Kaiser. German economy begins recovery with issuance of new currency. Carl Zuckmayer and Brecht begin working for Reinhardt as dra-maturgs. Friedrich Kayssler hires Piscator to direct at Berlin Volksbühne. Reinhardt hires Oskar Strnad as principal designer at Deutsches Theater. Bergner plays title role in German premiere of Shaw's St. Joan. Adolf Hitler sentenced to brief prison term and later released. Zuckmayer's The Merry Vineyard premieres, igniting protests against the play in more than 60 cities. Zuckmayer awarded Kleist Prize. President Friedrich Ebert dies, and Gen. Paul von Hindenburg is elected to replace him. Governmental and judicial attacks on the theater begin a marked increase. Germany regains rank as second in world iron and steel production. "Smut and Filthy Literature Law" goes into effect nationwide. Brecht's A Man's a Man premieres in Darmstadt. Bruckner's Illness of Youth premieres at Renaissance Theater. Hitler appoints Joseph Goebbels propaganda director for the National Socialists in Berlin. Helene Weigel makes Berlin debut in Hebbel's Herod and Miriam. Premiere of Marieluise Fleisser's Purgatory in Ingolstadt. Marlene Dietrich gets her first critical notices in premiere of Duell am Lido at State Theater under Jessner's direction. Ernst Barlach's The Blue Boll premieres in Stuttgart. Krauss stars in Hilpert's sensational production of the military epic Gneisenau at Deutsches Theater. Zuckmayer is tried for blasphemy in Munich. Ernst Busch makes Berlin debut at Volksbühne. Piscator leases Theater am Nollendorfplatz. Hasenclever's Ein besserer Herr premieres in Frankfurt am Main, and Kaiser's comedy The Paper Mill premieres in Dresden. Piscator premieres Toller's Hurrah, We're Alive! at Theater am Nollendorfplatz. President Hindenburg declares that World War I was, for the Germans, a "means of self-determination in a world surrounded by enemies." Ernst Josef Aufricht leases Theater am Schiffbauerdamm and premieres Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera there. Piscator stages The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik. Hilpert premieres Bruckner's The Criminals, giving Gründgens his first starring role in Berlin. Jessner removed as intendant of the State Theater. Max Reinhardt Seminar, a theater school for acting and directing, opens its doors to students. Aufricht premieres Brecht and Weill's Happy End at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm and also produces Fleisser's Pioneers in Ingolstadt. German banking system collapses in the wake of the Wall Street crash. Goetz's The Liar and the Nun premieres in Hamburg. National Socialists capture a majority in Thuringian elections, their first conquest of a state legislature. Six Berlin theaters file for bankruptcy, while many provincial theaters (e.g., Breslau, Essen, Magdeburg, and Wiesbaden) do likewise. Sturm im Wasserglas by Bruno Frank premieres in Dresden. Agnes Straub plays title role in premiere of Bruckner's Elizabeth of England. Jannings makes first Berlin theater appearance since winning an Academy Award for best actor in Hollywood films. Hilpert stages premiere of Zuckmayer's The Captain of Köpenick and Ödön von Horvâth's Tales of the Vienna Woods at Deutsches Theater Berlin; Horvâth's Italian Night premieres at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Berlin. Thuringian minister for internal affairs Wilhelm Frick publishes the "State Proclamation against Negro Culture." Frank's Nina premieres in Dresden. Piscator emigrates to Moscow, where he hopes to make films. Communist and National Socialist militias battle openly in the streets of many cities. Reinhardt relinquishes control of all three of his Berlin theaters, keeping only the Deutsches. Hilpert appointed director of Berlin Volksbühne. National Socialists win big in several state and local elections and become the largest party in the Reichstag. Gründgens plays Mephisto for the first time in Berlin. Goetz's Job Pretorius, M.D. premieres in Stuttgart and Horvâth's Kasimir and Karoline in Leipzig. Traugott Müller begins work at State Theater; he would later become the most accomplished stage designer in the Third Reich. Straub receives Louise Dumont Award. Hindenburg names Hitler chancellor on 30 January. Premiere of Hanns Johst's Schlageter in honor of Hitler's birthday (20 April); several plays by pro-Nazi playwrights (e.g., Billinger, Bethge, Möller, Rehberg, Blunck, and others) also premiere. Hundreds of theater artists emigrate to Austria and Switzerland. Ministry of Propaganda created. Elisabeth Flickenschildt makes Berlin debut. August Hinrichs's When the Rooster Crows premieres in Oldenburg. Reinhardt bequeaths Deutsches Theater to the "German Nation." Gründgens appointed intendant of Berlin State Theater, Eugen Klopfer of Volksbühne, and Hilpert of Deutsches. Cultural Chamber Law goes into effect, implementing goals set forth by Goebbels's Ministry for Propaganda and Popular Enlightenment, which assumes authority for all theater activity in Germany; Hitler publicly pledges to "cleanse" the German theater of its "lethargy." Hans Schweikart becomes principal director at Bavarian State Theater. Klopfer is declared state actor and Emmy Sonnemann state actress. Viktor DeKowa joins Gründgens's company at State Theater. Premiere of Heinrich Zerkaulen's Out of the Ordinary. Maximilian Böttcher's Uproar in the Inner Courtyard premieres in Eisenach. Körner is declared state actress. Zuckmayer's Der Schelm von Bergen premieres in Zurich and Jochen Huth's The Four Associates in Berlin. Goebbels bans theater criticism in newspapers, demanding "cultural reporting" in its place; he commissions Eberhard Wolfgang Möller to write an outdoor spectacle (termed Thingspiel) titled The Frankenburg Dice Game to premiere at Berlin Olympics. Paula Wessely plays title role in Schiller's The Maid of Orleans at Olympics. Leo Lenz's Honeymoon without a Husband premieres in Berlin, Richard Billinger's The Witch of Passau in Augsburg, and Hauptmann's Hamlet in Wittenberg in Leipzig. Hitler names Jannings, Gebühr, George, Paulsen, Paul Otto, and Matthias Wiemann state actors and Lucie Höflich state actress. Brecht's Frau Carrar's Rifles premieres in Paris and Horvâth's A Village without Men in Prague. Fehling's production of Richard III at the Berlin State Theater creates one of the few theater sensations in the Third Reich. Oskar Wälterlin becomes director of Zurich Volkstheater am Pfauen, which is soon rechristened the Schauspielhaus. Nazi regime awards Hans Blunck its Goethe Medallion. Horvâth's Figaro Gets a Divorce premieres in Prague and Zuckmayer's Bellmann in Zurich; Reinhardt premieres Thornton Wilder's The Merchant of New York, based on Nestroy's Out on a Lark, in New York City. Austria joins "Greater Germany," accepting Hitler as head of government; Goebbels assumes authority over Austrian theaters. Fehling stages Richard II in Müller's design (with Gründgens in title role) at Berlin State Theater. Reich Theater Festival held in Heidelberg. German troops invade Poland on 1 September, and World War II begins. Hitler declares Hans Albers, René Deltgen, Albert Florath, and Alexander Golling state actors and Wessely and Käthe Haack state actresses. Theater attendance reaches unprecedentedly high levels throughout Germany and Austria. More than 350 new plays and operettas premiere. Several theaters in Poland and France are confiscated and turned over to German producers. Gründgens premieres Mussolini's Cavour at State Theater. Brecht's Mother Courage (with Therese Giehse in title role) premieres in Zurich. Germany invades Soviet Union in June; "front theaters" are set up in Ukraine for benefit of soldiers. Hinrichs's The Model Farmer premieres in Oldenburg. Fehling stages The Beaver Coat in Berlin on the occasion of Hauptmann's 80th birthday, with Flickenschildt miscast as Mother Wolff. Propaganda Ministry decrees closure of private theaters. Bombing raids on German cities intensify; theater performances are frequently interrupted. Brecht's Good Person of Setzuan premieres in Zurich. Lessing Theater, Opera House, Theater am Kurfürstendamm, and Komödie Theater are among several Berlin venues destroyed in bombing raids. Assassination attempt of 20 July on Hitler nearly succeeds. Goebbels closes all theaters in the Reich on 1 August. Soviet army occupies Berlin; Hitler commits suicide on 30 April. The Rape of the Sabine Women opens on 27 May at Renaissance Theater in Berlin, the first production after German capitulation. DeKowa and other actors perform one-acts at Berlin Tribüne Theater. Soviet authorities appoint Gustav von Wangenheim intendant of Deutsches Theater in August; Erich Ponto becomes intendant of Dresden State Theater. Erich Engel is appointed director of Munich Kammerspiele. Brecht and Weill's Threepenny Opera opens in Berlin's Hebbel Theater. Hilpert stages premiere of Zuckmayer's The Devil's General in Zurich. Gründgens is released from Soviet custody and begins work with Busch at Deutsches Theater. Frisch's Now They Sing Again premieres in Zurich and German-language version of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie in Basel. Klaus Kinski debuts at Berlin Schlosspark Theater. Gründgens becomes intendant of Düsseldorf City Theaters. Borchert's The Outsider premieres in Hamburg. Schweikart assumes directorship of Munich Kammerspiele and Körner becomes director at Stuttgart State Theater. Otto Falckenberg School founded in Munich. Brecht stages his adaptation of Oedipus in Chur, Switzerland, with Weigel and premieres his Mr. Puntila and His Servant Matti in Zurich; Langhoff's stages Brecht's Fear and Misery in the Third Reich at Berlin Deutsches Theater. Viertel returns to work as director at Vienna Burgtheater. Josef Stalin attempts to seal off West Berlin, and Americans and British begin Berlin Airlift in response. At Burgtheater, Käthe Gold plays both Laura Wingfield in Williams's The Glass Menagerie and Blanche Dubois in his A Streetcar Named Desire. Jean Giraudoux's Madwoman of Chaillot premieres in Hamburg. Brecht establishes the Berliner Ensemble, housed at Berlin Deutsches Theater, and stages his Mother Courage starring Weigel. Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Romulus the Great and Max Frisch's When the War Was Over both premiere in Zurich; Hilpert stages premiere of Zuckmayer's Barbara Blomberg in Constance. Kortner returns to Munich as a director with Kammerspiele. Separate German republics are declared—the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR)—with separate currencies and governments. Brecht stages his adaptation of Jakob Lenz's The Tutor with Berliner Ensemble. Kortner stages Don Carlos in Munich with Kinski. Hilpert becomes intendant of newly renamed Deutsches Theater in Göttingen and stages premiere of Zuckmayer's Song in the Fiery Furnace. Körner plays title role in Madwoman of Chaillot in Stuttgart. Reconstructed Bremen City Theater opens. Boleslaw Barlog becomes intendant of Berlin Schiller Theater. Harry Buckwitz is named director of the Frankfurt City Theaters. Frisch's Count Oederland premieres in Zurich. Piscator returns to work as freelance director in West Germany. Hilpert stages premiere of Zuckmayer's Ulla Winblad in Göttingen, and Benno Besson premieres Brecht's The Trial of Joan of Arc in Rouen in Berlin. Grete Mosheim returns to Berlin in premiere of John van Druten's I Am a Camera at Schlosspark Theater. Zuckmayer awarded Goethe Prize. Street demonstrations erupt in Berlin as workers protest policies of East German government; Brecht supports use of Soviet force against them. Caspar Neher, Curt Bois, and other Brecht colleagues leave East Berlin. Käthe Dorsch awarded Art Prize of the City of Berlin. Hilpert stages German-language premiere of Federico Garcia Lorca's Yerma in Göttingen. Kurt Horowitz named intendant of Bavarian State Theaters. Reconstructed Kiel City Theater opens. Brecht's Mother Courage wins first prize at Theater of the Nations festival in Paris; East Germany awards Brecht a permanent home for Berliner Ensemble at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, where Brecht and Engel stage Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Karl von Appen is appointed Berliner Ensemble's principal designer. Kortner stages Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot with Heinz Rühmann in Munich. Brecht awarded Stalin Prize in Moscow; his production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle wins first prize at Theater of the Nations festival in Paris. Besson premieres Brecht's Trumpets and Drums for Berliner Ensemble. Gründgens becomes intendant of Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus and premieres Zuckmayer's The Cold Light there. Dürrenmatt's The Visit premieres in Zurich. Mosheim plays Mary Tyrone in Berlin premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. German premiere of James Hilton's Good-bye, Mr. Chips and Giraudoux's Siegfried in Göttingen. Engel stages premiere of Brecht's The Life of Galileo at Berliner Ensemble. Hilpert premieres Osborne's The Entertainer in Hamburg, with Gründgens in title role. Premiere of Frisch's Biedermann and the Arsonists in Zurich, Günter Grass's Mister, Mister in Cologne, and Heiner Müller's The Scab in East Berlin. Peter Zadek makes German directing debut in Cologne with Jean Vauthier's Captain Bada. Gründgens stages premiere of Brecht's St. Joan of the Stockyards in Hamburg. Grass's Ten Minutes to Buffalo premieres in Bochum. In Berlin, Marianne Hoppe plays Alexandra del Lago in Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth. Teo Otto is appointed professor of stage design at Düsseldorf Art Academy. Bruno Ganz debuts in Bremen.

Premiere of Helmut Baierl's Frau Flinz at Berliner Ensemble. East German regime seals off West Berlin with concrete wall surrounding the city. DeKowa awarded Federal Service Cross. Dieter Dorn begins directing career in Hannover. Eberhard Esche begins career at Deutsches Theater. Frisch's Andorra premieres in Zurich and Grass's The Wicked Cooks in Berlin. Horowitz stages premiere of Dürrenmatt's The Physicists in Zurich. Premiere of Müller's The Settler, or Life on the Land results in his expulsion from the East German Writers' Union. Engel premieres Brecht's Schweik in the Second World War at Berliner Ensemble. Piscator becomes intendant of the Free Volksbühne in West Berlin. Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer founded in West Berlin. Berliner Theatertreffen ("theater gathering") founded with intention to invite "the most notable productions in the German-speaking theater" to Berlin for a citywide festival in May of each year. August Everding named Munich Kammerspiele's intendant. Hansgünther Heyme becomes principal director of Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden. Piscator premieres Rolf Hochhuth's The Deputy at West Berlin Free Volksbühne. Ruth Berghaus establishes career as stage combat choreographer in Berliner Ensemble production of Coriolanus. Dorn named full-time director at Hannover State Theater. Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade premieres at Berlin Schiller Theater and is subsequently invited to Berlin Theatertreffen. Barlog premieres Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Berlin Schiller Theater. Heyme's Wiesbaden production of Marat/Sade invited to Theatertreffen. Piscator premieres Weiss's The Investigation at the Berlin Freie Volksbühne. Otto Sander debuts in Düsseldorf, and Peter Stein begins work with Kortner in Munich. Premiere of Grass's The Plebians Rehearse the Uprising at Berlin Schiller Theater. Schweikart premieres Harold Pinter's The Homecoming at Berlin Schlosspark Theater, and Heinrich Koch premieres Albee's Tiny Alice at Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus. Berliner Ensemble makes first appearance at Theatertreffen, with Brecht's adaptation of Coriolanus. Premiere of Peter Handke's Insulting the Audience in Graz. Stein attracts national attention with his premiere of Edward Bond's Saved at Munich Kammerspiele. Frankfurt am Main production of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger invited to Theatertreffen. Dorn begins work at Burgtheater. Peter Palitzsch premieres Tankred Dorst's Toller in Stuttgart, and Claus Peymann premieres Handke's Kaspar in Frankfurt am Main. Jürgen Flimm begins working with Kortner in Munich, and Dimiter Gottschef begins working in East Berlin. Premiere of Wolfgang Bauer's Magic Afternoon in Hannover. Heyme becomes director of Cologne City Theaters. Katharina Thalbach makes debut with Berliner Ensemble. Beckett's staging of his Endgame invited to Theatertreffen; Berliner Ensemble makes second, and last, appearance at Theatertreffen, with Brecht's The Bread Shop. Besson awarded directorship of Berlin Volksbühne. Grass's Max, a Play premieres at Berlin Schiller Theater. Klaus-Michael Grüber makes directorial debut in Bremen with The Tempest. Stein's production of The Changeling at the Zurich Schauspielhaus prompts Berlin Senate to offer him the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer. Peymann's production of Kaspar and Palitzsch's premiere of Dorst's Toller are invited to Theatertreffen. Stein, Peymann, and Dieter Sturm agree to reorganize Berlin's Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer, with Botho Strauss as dramaturg and Ganz, Jutta Lampe, and Michael König as core of acting company. East German regime bans Achim Freyer's production of Goethe's Clavigo. Peymann premieres Handke's The Anxiety of the Goalie at the Penalty Kick. Müller granted position of dramaturg at Berliner Ensemble. George Tabori's The Cannibals premieres at Berlin Schiller Theater. Beckett's staging of his Krapp's Last Tape invited to Theatertreffen.

Peymann premieres Handke's The Ride across Lake Constance at Schaubühne, in which Barbara Sukowa makes her debut. Dorn premieres Christopher Hampton's The Misanthrope at Munich Kammerspiele. Berghaus given directorship of Berliner Ensemble. Cornelia Froboess joins Munich Kammerspiele company, Edith Clever the Berlin Schaubühne. Peymann premieres Strauss's The Hypochondriac at Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus. Peymann premieres Thomas Bernhard's The Ignoramus and the Madman at Salzburg Festival. Peter Zadek premieres Dorst's adaptation of Hans Fallada's Little Man, What Now? in Bochum. Thalbach joins East Berlin Volksbühne company. Zuckmayer awarded Heinrich Heine Prize. Pina Bausch founds Dance Theater of Wuppertal. Luc Bondy begins directing career in Munich, and Flimm begins his at Mannheim National Theater. Handke awarded Georg Büchner Prize. Franz Xaver Kroetz's Barnyard premieres at Munich Kammerspiele. Bondy's premiere of Bond's The Sea attracts national attention; the production is invited to Theatertreffen. Müller's Cement premieres in East Berlin. Peymann becomes intendant of Württembergsiches Staatstheater in Stuttgart. Stein stages Strauss's adaptation of Maxim Gorky's Summer Folk at Schaubühne to national acclaim. Wolfgang En-gel granted directorship of Radebeul Regional Theaters in East German Saxony. Flickenschildt awarded Federal Distinguished Cross for Service to the Arts. Niels-Peter Rudolph premieres Strauss's Familiar Faces, Mixed Feelings in Stuttgart. Müller makes first appearance at Theatertreffen, in Frank-Patrock Steckel's Schaubühne production of The Scab. Baierl awarded National Prize of the GDR. Müller's The Peasants premieres at East Berlin Volksbühne. Grüber stages Hölderlin's Empedocles at Schaubühne. Dozens of East German theater artists are put on "indefinite leave" for their vocal support of banned singer Wolf Biermann. Manfred Wekwerth becomes director of Berliner Ensemble, and Dorn is named principal director at Munich Kammerspiele. Stein premieres Strauss's Trilogy of Repeated Meetings at Schaubühne. Thalbach leaves East Germany and joins Schiller Theater troupe in West Berlin. East German authorities ban Jürgen Gosch's production of Büchner's Léonce und Lena at East Berlin Volksbühne. Elfriede Jelinek awarded Roswitha of Gandersheim Memorial Medal. Stein stages Shakespeare's Memory at Schaubühne. Premiere of Müller's Hamlet Machine in Essen. Paul Dahlke awarded Federal Service Cross. Flimm becomes intendant of Cologne City Theaters. East German authorities force Gottschef to return to Bulgaria. Armin Müller-Stahl leaves East Germany and establishes a career in West Germany and United States. Peymann and Rudolph become intendants of Bochum Schauspielhaus and Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus, respectively. At Schaubühne, Robert Wilson premieres his Death, Destruction, and Detroit and Stein premieres Strauss's Big and Small. Bausch gets first invitation to Theatertreffen with her staging of Arien. Boy Gobert becomes director of Hamburg Thalia Theater. Pey-mann premieres Bernhard's On the Eve of Retirement in Bochum. Stein stages The Oresteian Trilogy at Schaubühne. Berlin Senate provides Stein with new theater, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, built to his specifications. Bausch's Bandoneon is invited to Theatertreffen. Everding is named intendant of Bavarian State Theaters in Munich. Gosch receives first invitation to Theatertreffen with staging of Gorky's The Lower Depths. Jossi Wieler attracts national attention with his staging of Kleist's Amphytrion in Bonn. Frank Baumbauer becomes principal director at Bavarian State Theater in Munich. Andrea Breth makes breakthrough as "directress of the year" with her staging of House of Bernarda Alba in Freiburg. Bondy premieres Strauss's Kaldewey Farce at Schaubühne; Wilson premieres his The Golden Window at Munich Kammerspiele and is invited to Theatertreffen. Theater Heute names Sukowa "actress of the year" for her performance of Hilde Wrangel in Zadek's The Master Builder. My Fair Lady begins a 10-year run in Munich. Reinhild Hoffmann premieres her Callas at Dance Theater of Bremen; the production is later invited to Theatertreffen. Wilson, in collaboration with Müller, stages his CIVIL warS in Cologne, which is also invited to Theatertreffen. Gosch begins work as director at Hamburg Thalia Theater. Gottschef begins work in Cologne, staging Müller's Quartett. Müller is awarded East Germany's National Prize, First Class but is forbidden to rejoin East German Writers' Union. Günther Rühle is named intendant of Frankfurt City Theaters. Stein departs Schaubühne and embarks on a freelance career. Russian director Yuri Liubimov stages his adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment at Burgtheater. Peymann assumes directorship of Vienna Burgtheater. Herbert Achternbusch premieres his Gust at Munich Kammerspiele, and Hoffmann premieres her Föhn (Hot Wind) at Bremen Dance Theater, which is later invited to Theatertreffen. Bausch awarded Federal Service Cross. Baumbauer named intendant of Theater Basel. Breth awarded Kortner Prize. Wilson stages Hamlet Machine at Hamburg Thalia Theater and is invited to Theatertreffen. Peymann's premiere of Bernhard's Heroes' Square at Burgtheater sparks an uproar throughout Austria. Freyer stages his adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses at Burgtheater. Tabori premieres his Mein Kampf at Vienna Akademie Theater. GDR collapses; hundreds of former East German theater artists seek work in West Germany. Stein stages his "text-true" production of Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters at Moscow Art Theater to wide acclaim. Thalbach makes her directing debut in West Germany with Macbeth at Berlin Schiller Theater. Germany is officially reunited. Thalbach stages Brecht's A Man's a Man at Hamburg Thalia Theater to wide acclaim. Frank Castorf is named principal director at Berlin Deutsches Theater, and Heyme becomes director of Ruhr Festival. Wilson stages his adaptation of Lear, with Marianne Hoppe in the title role, at Frankfurt City Theater. Christian Stückl stages first revised Oberammergau Passion Play. Elmar Goerden begins directing career at Schaubühne, and Stein is named director of Salzburg Festival. Theater Heute names Gottschef "director of the year." Müller stages his Hamlet Machine at Berlin Deutsches Theater. Anna Viebrock becomes principal designer at Theater Basel. Müller becomes director of Berliner Ensemble, Breth of Schaubühne, and Thalheimer at Chemnitz City Theater. Castorf is named intendant of Berlin Volksbühne. Berghaus stages Brecht's In the Jungle of Cities at Hamburg Thalia Theater and is invited to Theatertreffen. Tabori awarded Büchner Prize. Baumbauer named intendant of Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus; he hires Marthaler and Wieler as principal directors and Viebrock as principal designer. Strauss awarded Berlin Theater Prize. Tabori premieres his Requiem for a Spy at Vienna Akademie Theater, and Wieler premieres Jelinek's At Home in the Clouds in Hamburg. Karin Beier makes directorial debut with award-winning production of Romeo and Juliet in Düsseldorf. Wolfgang Engel becomes director of Leipzig City Theater. Kroetz's Mr. Paul premieres at Berlin Deutsches Theater and Wilson's The Black Rider in Dortmund. Goerden is appointed principal director at Stuttgart State Theater. Grüber receives Kortner Prize. Lars-Ole Wallburg becomes dramaturg and Marthaler premieres his Zero Hour at Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus. Beier stages her Midsummer Night's Dream: A European Shakespeare in Düsseldorf. Breth is appointed principal director at Vienna Burgtheater. Sasha Waltz stages her Way of the Cosmonauts at the Berlin Sophia Halls; it is later invited to Theatertreffen. Castorfs production of Zuckmayer's The Devil's General attracts wide attention and is also invited to Theatertreffen. Thirza Brucknen premieres Jelinek's Stecken, Stab, und Staml in Hamburg. Bachmann is named director of Theater Basel. Thomas Oster-meier premieres Ravenhill's Shopping and Fucking at Berlin Deutsches Theater, Marthaler his Unanswered Question at Theater Basel, and Einar Schleef, Jelinek's A Sports Play at Vienna Burgtheater. Premiere of Strauss's The Kiss of Forgetfulness at Zurich Schauspielhaus. Bausch is awarded European Theater Prize. Berliner Ensemble company dissolves; Theater am Schiffbauerdamm retains name and Peymann assumes directorship. Grass is awarded Nobel Prize for literature. Ostermeier becomes director of Berliner Schaubühne and names Mayenburg his dramaturg. Theater Heute awards Marius von Mayenburg its "best young playwright" citation after premiere of his Fireface in Munich. Clever tours her one-woman show featuring Goethe's female characters. Grüber awarded Konrad Wolf Prize. Luk Perceval stages his collection of battle scenes from Shakespeare's history plays (titled schlachten!) at Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus and is invited to Theatertreffen. Peymann premieres Kroetz's End of the Coupling at new Berliner Ensemble; Mayenburg's Parasites premieres at Hamburg Deutsches Schauspielhaus. Wieler named director of Hannover State Theater. Baumbauer named intendant of Munich Kammerspiele. Castorf stages his adaptation of Williams's streetcar Named Desire as Destination: America at Berlin Volksbühne. Goerden is appointed principal director at Bavarian State Theater in Munich. Thalheimer becomes first director to have productions staged in two different theaters invited to Theatertreffen. Viebrock is appointed principal designer at Zurich Schauspielhaus. Martin Kusej's staging of Karl Schönherr's Faith and Homeland attracts international attention and invitation to Theatertreffen. Thalheimer receives both the Nestroy Prize and the Friedrich Luft Prize. Michael Maertens awarded Gertrud Eysoldt Ring. Flimm appointed head of Salzburg Festival. Stückl becomes intendant of Munich Volkstheater. Bausch awarded knighthood in French Legion of Honor. Breth awarded Nestroy Prize. Wallburg becomes principal director at Theater Basel. Jelinek awarded Nobel Prize for literature; his The Work premieres at Vienna Akademie Theater under Michael Steman. Theatertreffen is dominated by coproductions of conceptual pieces originating in opera houses, film studios, and dance theaters and among "free groups" such as the Rimini Protocol and Styrian Autumn. Bernd Wilms reappointed intendant of Deutsches Theater in wake of Berlin municipal bankruptcy. Flimm is appointed director of Ruhr Triennale and Goerden intendant of Bochum Schauspielhaus. Dozens of new Schiller productions mounted throughout German-speaking theater in honor of the 200th "Schiller Year."