Theater Aachen

In that year, Aachen received its first public theatre, the Komödienhaus am Katschhof, built by Johann Joseph Couven. With the increasing demands on the house, plans for a new theater were made at the beginning of the 19th century. The foundation stone was laid on November 16, 1822.

The state master builder Friedrich Schinkel finally revised the design developed by the state building inspector Peter Cremer during a lengthy planning phase and added the classical portico and the gable field.

After two years of construction, the new theater building was opened on May 15, 1825 with a performance of the opera "Jessonda" by Louis Spohr. In 2000, the Great House celebrated its 175th anniversary. In the years 1900/01 the stage at the Theaterplatz was extensively renovated under the direction of the Berlin theater architect Heinrich Seeling. The interior was decorated in accordance with the fashion of the time and the number of pillars was reduced for better visibility. The most striking change, however, concerned the towers attached to the portico.

In World War II

On July 14, 1943, the theater was reduced to rubble by a bomb attack. Only the portico and the foyer escaped destruction, miraculously. Just a few months after the end of the war, however, plays and operas were being performed again in temporary venues. Building director Philipp Kerz rebuilt the theater according to the plans of Cremer and Seeling. On December 23, 1951, the grand opening and reopening was celebrated with a performance of »Meistersinger« under the musical direction of long-time Bayreuth conductor Karl Elmendorf.

The first director of the Theater Aachen was Paul Mundorf (1950-1968)

In 1953 he converted the chamber into an experimental stage. This was followed by Peter Maßmann (1968-1981), Manfred Mützel (1981-1983) and in 1984 Klaus Schultz. He enlarged the orchestra pit, renewed the stage technology, built a new rehearsal building and rebuilt the Kammerspiele. Director for the next seven years was Elmar Ottenthal. He renamed the Stadttheater Aachen to Theater Aachen - but this did not prevent the people of Aachen from still talking about "their Stadttheater". Under Elmar Ottenthal, the house was used throughout the year, musicals were premiered in the summer. Claus Schmitz took over the management of the theater as acting General Manager for the 1999/2000 season.

From the 2000/2001 season to the 2004/2005 season, the Aachen Theater was run by Dr. Paul Esterhazy as General Manager.

Under his direction, the Theater Aachen made a name for itself with world premieres in the field of music theater. His management team included Michael Helle, who had been drama director since 2000, and Marcus R. Bosch, who was general music director of the city of Aachen from 2002 to 2012. From 2012/2013 to 16/17 Kazem Abdullah was General Music Director in Aachen. Justus Thorau temporarily took over the position in the 2017/18 season. Christopher Ward has been General Music Director of the City of Aachen since August 2018.

Michael Schmitz-Aufterbeck has been general director of the theater since the 2005/2006 season.

His team shows in a diverse, varied and sensual way a confrontation between tradition and modernity in music theater, drama and concerts.

Many well-known artists have worked in Aachen and started their careers here.

The following are representative: the conductors Leo Blech, Fritz Busch, Herbert von Karajan, Willhelm Pitz, Paul van Kempen and Wolfgang Sawallisch; the singers Karl Burrian, Tiana Lemnitz, Ludwig Suthaus, Kurt Moll, Irmgard Seefried, Hartmut Welker, Linda Watson, Luana de Vol, Marcus Haddock; the actors Willi Birgel, Hans Jörg Felmy, Gerd Heinz, Jürgen Prochnow, Heinrich Schafmeister and Sophie von Kessel and the directors Hans Schalla and Max Ophüls.