Staatstheater Mainz

The Mainz State Theatre (until 1989 Mainz City Theatre) was built between 1829 and 1833 by Georg Moller. The building on the Gutenbergplatz was erected between 1829 and 1833 by the Darmstadt court architect Georg Moller. The construction had been demanded for decades by the city's bourgeoisie, cost around 280,000 guilders (the city's budget at the time was 300,000 guilders) and replaced the former electoral stables on the Große Bleiche as a theatre space. On the occasion of the building's opening, the Grand Ducal National Stage Mainz was renamed Mainz City Theatre. The theatre building was the first to present, in imitation of the Colosseum in Rome, the semicircle of the auditorium on the outside. This was a clear departure from the previous practice of building theatres angular and symmetrical in the style of ancient temples. The new design had a positive effect on the sightlines. However, the theatre had no larger foyer; one was added in front of the Moller building in 1910, though this caused the characteristic curve of the front façade to be lost. The theatre was partly destroyed by the air raids on Mainz. The French High Commissioner André François-Poncet encouraged the reconstruction in 1949, and the festive reopening took place on 24 November 1951.