Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Haus der Berliner Festspiele on Schaperstraße in Wilmersdorf opened on 1 May 1963 as the theatre of the Freie Volksbühne, which moved into its own building here under Erwin Piscator. The architect was Fritz Bornemann, who also designed the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Under Kurt Hübner (1973 to 1986), Peter Zadek, Klaus Michael Grüber and Hans Neuenfels directed here, and Neuenfels went on to run the theatre himself. In 1992 the Berlin Senate cut its funding, and in 1999 the building was sold. Since 2000 the federal government has rented it for the Berliner Festspiele, which reopened it under its present name in April 2001. The largely unaltered, listed building has a main stage with 999 seats and a side stage with 280. It hosts the Theatertreffen, international guest performances and the International Literature Festival Berlin.