Landestheater Darmstadt

Staatstheater Darmstadt
The entrance of the theatre
General information
Type	Theatre
Location	Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
Address	Georg-Büchner-Platz
Coordinates	49°52′06″N 08°38′56″E / 49.86833°N 8.64889°E / 49.86833; 8.64889Coordinates: 49°52′06″N 08°38′56″E / 49.86833°N 8.64889°E / 49.86833; 8.64889
Opened	1972 (1972)
Design and construction
Architect	Rolf Prange
Other information
Seating capacity	956 / 482
Website
www.staatstheater-darmstadt.de

The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in 1711 with a court theatre building. From 1919 it was run as Landestheater Darmstadt. The present theatre was opened in 1972 when the company was named Staatstheater.

The theatre dates back more than 300 years. It was originally a court theatre at the residence of the county Darmstadt. At a request by Elisabeth Dorothea von Hessen-Darmstadt () a first theatre building in Darmstadt was opened in 1711 with Christoph Graupner's opera Telemach. About a century later, Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, built a court theatre open to the citizens. The architect Georg Moller built a theatre with 2000 seats and advanced stage machinery, opened in 1819. It burnt down in 1871 and was restored in seven years.

In 1919 the theatre became a Landestheater. The former building was made the small stage (Kleines Haus). Director Gustav Hartung (1920–1924 and 1931–1933) made the theatre famous for premieres of contemporary authors. He was forced to flee by the Nazis. Actress Lilli Palmer, then 20 years old, emigrated to Paris. Both halls of the theatre were destroyed by bombs in the night 11 to 12 September 1944. After the war a provisional stage was found in the Orangerie (), where the company played for almost three decades. It was known for plays during the times of directors Gustav Rudolf Sellner () (1951–1961) and Gerhard F. Hering () (1961–1971). The play Männersache by Franz Xaver Kroetz premiered in 1972. In 1966 Maciej Łukaszczyk arrived and worked as an Répétiteur at the Landestheater Darmstadt. In 1970 he founded the chopin-organisation.