Staatstheater Augsburg

The Staatstheater Augsburg is a theatre in the city of Augsburg that emerged on 1 September 2018 from the four-division Theater Augsburg. The state theatre has since established itself as a five-division house. It is run by a non-profit foundation that receives equal subsidies from the city of Augsburg and the Free State of Bavaria. Until 1999 the theatre operated as the Städtische Bühnen Augsburg. In 1630 the Augsburg Meistersinger bought the Welserstadel and converted it into a theatre venue. There, master craftsmen played and sang publicly, always for the betterment of the people, not for money. In 1665, with the erection of the Meistersinger-Stadel by the municipal almonry at the Lauterlech, in the Jakober suburb near the church of St. Jakob, Augsburg's actual theatre life began. Little is recorded of the building; it is said to have contained 15 "Stüblin" (boxes), but was already so dilapidated from the start that expensive renovations had repeatedly to be carried out so as not to endanger artists and spectators. Around this time the society of the Meistersinger also dissolved.