The Maxim Gorki Theatre on the Festungsgraben is one of Berlin's most distinctive drama theatres and the smallest of the Berlin state theatres. It is housed in a neoclassical building erected in 1827 as the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin — in this very hall Goethe, Hegel, and Mendelssohn once sat as concert-goers, before the building was repurposed as a theatre after 1945. Named after the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, the house has in recent years earned an international reputation as a centre of post-migrant, socio-politically committed theatre and has repeatedly been voted "Theatre of the Year." Its repertoire consistently emphasises diversity, contemporary subjects, and new perspectives on a changing society.
In the same hall Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy revived Bach's "St Matthew Passion" in 1829 — the performance sparked the great Bach renaissance of the 19th century.
At a glance
- Type
- Theatre
- Location
- Berlin, Germany
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