Theater Pforzheim

The Pforzheim Municipal Theatre is the theatre of the city of Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg. The theatre is located on the Waisenhausplatz directly on the river Enz. The new theatre building, erected in 1990 to plans by the architect Bodo Fleischer, has two venues: the Großes Haus with 511 seats and the Podium, which offers space for up to 193 spectators through variable seating and a gallery. The Pforzheim Municipal Theatre is a three-division house. Besides plays, operas, operettas, ballet, concerts and musicals are performed. The house orchestra is the Baden Philharmonic Pforzheim. The history of theatre in Pforzheim reaches back to 1803, when the so-called Komödienhaus was set up in the Theaterstraße as a venue for travelling acting troupes. The Komödienhaus had to be closed in 1888 due to dilapidation and was demolished shortly afterwards. A theatre association founded in 1885 worked to establish a new theatre. A large hall building designed by Alfons Kern was finally inaugurated in 1900. The development into today's theatre began when the conductor Hans Leger turned a recently founded private symphony orchestra into a public one in 1933 and integrated opera and drama into the programme, creating the first regular three-division theatre in Pforzheim.