Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar

The Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (DNT) at the Theaterplatz, in its present form opened on 11 January 1908 in late-Neoclassical style to designs by Max Littmann, is one of the most historically significant theatres in Germany — the place where the Weimar Constitution of 1919 was adopted, and the central stage of Weimar Classicism. The site has been occupied by a court theatre since 1779, when the Wettin court of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach commissioned its first dedicated playhouse; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe directed the theatre from 1791 to 1817, and Friedrich Schiller premiered his major plays here, including "Maria Stuart" (1800), "Die Jungfrau von Orleans" (1801), and "Wilhelm Tell" (1804). Franz Liszt served as Kapellmeister from 1842 and conducted the world premiere of Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" on 28 August 1850 — Wagner himself was unable to attend, being in exile in Switzerland. The premiere of "Tannhäuser" had already taken place at the previous building in 1849. After fires (1825), reconstructions (Coudray's rebuild of 1825), and air raid damage (1945), the present building stands largely as Littmann completed it in 1908. On 6 February 1919, the National Assembly convened in this auditorium and adopted the Weimar Constitution — the first democratic constitution of Germany. A bronze plaque on the building exterior commemorates the event. Today the DNT is a four-genre house, combining opera, drama, ballet, and concerts under one administration with the Staatskapelle Weimar — Germany's second-oldest still-active orchestra after the Dresden Staatskapelle, with traditions reaching back to 1491. The main auditorium seats 857, the smaller second venue (Studiobühne) approximately 200.