Stage Theater des Westens

The Theater des Westens (since 2011 Stage Theater des Westens) is one of the best-known musical and operetta stages in Berlin. It is located at Kantstraße 10–12 in the Charlottenburg district (City West). The theatre was built in 1895/1896 in the style of Wilhelmine historicism by Bernhard Sehring on the former coal yard of the C. Bolle dairy. The foundation stone was laid on 4 September 1895. Even before the opening, the theatre building caused a stir among Berlin architects. In deliberate contrast to the neo-Baroque auditorium building, the stage tower behind it was designed in the style of a medieval keep. Tower-like projections with tall lanterns form the four corners of the auditorium building. The attic is crowned with the Perseus group by Johannes Pfuhl. The first operator of the theatre was the Theater des Westens GmbH, a company of Bernhard Sehring and Paul Blumenreich. The theatre opened on 1 October 1896 with Holger Drachmann's fairy-tale play Tausendundeine Nacht. After the desired success initially failed to materialise, the house was used as an opera stage from 1898 and as an operetta theatre from 1908.