The Mainfranken Theater Würzburg is a multi-division house in Würzburg's old town for opera, drama, ballet and concert. Before 1999 the house was called the Würzburg City Theatre. In September 2019 it was announced that the Mainfranken Theater would be elevated to a Bavarian State Theatre. The Mainfranken Theater and its venues — the Großes Haus (mainly music theatre and ballet) and the Kleines Haus (mainly drama) — have been under reconstruction and structural reorientation since 2018. Besides the Großes Haus with 738 seats, the theatre houses the newly built Kleines Haus with 330 seats, opened at the end of 2023, and the likewise newly equipped rehearsal stage with 125 seats. As general music director Enrico Calesso is active, as opera director Berthold Warnecke. The Würzburg City Theatre (so named for the first time on 2 October 1837) was founded by Julius Graf von Soden and opened on 3 August 1804 with the play Stille Wasser sind tief by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder. Performances took place in the former noble ladies' foundation of St. Anne, which had been converted into a theatre. In 1814, one day after Würzburg had finally fallen to Bavaria, the municipal theatre was designated a royally privileged stage.
The Mainfranken Theater Würzburg is Bavaria's largest theatre after Munich and resides in a building erected in 1804 as the prince-electoral theatre — Würzburg Residence, one of the most significant Baroque palaces in Europe, shapes the cultural environment.
At a glance
- Type
- Multi-genre theatre
- Location
- Würzburg, Germany
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