Ruhrfestspiele
| Ruhrfestspiele | |
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Entrance to the Ruhrfestspielhaus, 2009
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| Genre | European theatre, with a focus on political plays |
| Begins | 1 May |
| Ends | mid June |
| Frequency | biennual |
| Location(s) | Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Inaugurated | 1946 |
| Next event | 2016 |
| Organised by | |
| Website | |
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Ruhrfestspiele (Ruhr Festival) in Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in Europe. Founded after World War II, the festival is a major annual cultural event for the Ruhr area. It always starts on 1 May and is funded by the city of Recklinghausen and the labour union Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB). The festival comprises performances from European performers and theatre companies, and aims to bring different art forms, languages and cultures together. The main venue is the Ruhrfestspielhaus, which has won awards for its architecture.
The festival originated in the postwar winter of 1946/47, when Hamburg theatres were unable to heat their premises and sent representatives to the Ruhr valley to "organize" coal. Miners of the King Ludwig 4/5 pit () in the Recklinghausen suburb of Suderwich are said to have been helpful, which led to the pit being called the cradle of the Ruhrfestspiele (Wiege der Ruhrfestspiele). In return, performers from the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Thalia Theater and the Staatsoper Hamburg held performances at the Städtischer Saalbau hall in Recklinghausen in mid-1947 under the slogan "Kunst gegen Kohle" (Art for Coal). In 1948, the DGB labour union and the city founded a company to organize the first festival, that started with a performance of Goethe's Faust I. The state of North Rhine-Westfalia has supported the festival since 1949. The festival traditionally starts on 1 May.
Drama performances are complemented by concerts, art exhibits and political events. Operas were not performed after 1953 due to technical limitations of the Saalbau building. On 3 June 1961 construction started of a new hall, the Ruhrfestspielhaus, financed by the Friends of the Ruhrfestspiele (Freunde der Ruhrfestspiele), an association founded by Theodor Heuss. The building's architecture is influenced by the Bauhaus. The first performances in the new building took place in 1965.
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