Hans Otto Theater

The Hans Otto Theater is the municipal theatre of Potsdam. Its seat and main venue is the Großes Haus on the Tiefer See in Potsdam's cultural quarter on Schiffbauergasse. Further regular venues are the neighbouring historic Reithalle (riding hall) and, occasionally, the Schlosstheater in the Neues Palais. The theatre is named after the actor Hans Otto, who was murdered in the early months of the Third Reich. The Royal Playhouse, dedicated to the entertainment of the inhabitants, opened in 1795 under King Friedrich Wilhelm II, the successor of Frederick II of Prussia, on the Potsdam city canal. Because of this location it was popularly known as the "Canal Opera". The house seated 700 and initially served as a venue for the Royal National Theatre in Berlin, had no ensemble of its own and was under the artistic direction of the Berlin general management. The programme included plays, operas and ballets — all guest performances from Berlin. Since the Potsdam garrison made up about a third of the inhabitants, military personnel formed a large part of the audience alongside the bourgeois public. From 1846 the house was run by private lessees and directors with their own ensembles. After the start of the First World War the programme turned patriotic. Following the November Revolution of 1918 the state took over the theatre. In 1945 the theatre burned down after heavy artillery fire in the Second World War, and the ruin was demolished in 1966.