Waldbühne
The venue during a performance by Barbra Streisand (c.2007)
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| Former names | Dietrich-Eckart-Freilichtbühne (1936-48) |
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| Address | Glockenturmstraße 1 14053 Berlin Germany |
| Location | |
| Owner | Senate of Berlin |
| Operator | CTS Eventim |
| Type | Amphitheatre |
| Capacity | 22,290 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1934-36 |
| Opened | 2 August 1936 |
| Renovated | 1969, 1982 |
| Website | |
| Venue website (in German) | |
Waldbühne (German: Woodland Stage or Forest Stage) is an amphitheatre in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by German architect Werner March in emulation of a Greek theatre and built between 1934 and 1936 as the Dietrich-Eckart-Freilichtbühne (German: Dietrich Eckart Open Air Theater), a Nazi Thingplatz, and opened in association with the 1936 Summer Olympics. Since World War II it has been used for a variety of events, including boxing matches, film showings and classical and rock concerts. It seats more than 22,000 people. The venue is located off Friedrich-Friesen-Allee just northeast of Glockenturmstraße.
The theatre was built as part of the Olympic complex on the request of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. March made use of a natural ravine and modelled the theatre on ancient Greek amphitheatres. With the intent of showing the kinship between ancient Greek and Germanic culture, the entrance is flanked by two pairs of reliefs by Adolf Wamper: on the left, representing the "Fatherland", two male nudes, one with a sword, the other with a spear, a pairing that was to be used more famously by Arno Breker; and on the right, representing artistic celebration, two female nudes, one with a laurel wreath, the other with a lyre. The arena, the Maifeld field, and the Olympic stadium itself were designed to be used together for large events, and March also provided an indoor arena in the nearby Haus des deutschen Sports (House of German Sports) that has been regarded as a smaller equivalent of the Dietrich Eckart theatre.
The theatre opened on 2 August 1936, the day after the opening of the games, with the première of Eberhard Wolfgang Möller's Frankenburger Würfelspiel. 20,000 people were in attendance, and the Reich Labour Service supplied 1,200 extras. It was also used for some events of the games, in particular boxing matches. During the Olympics and later, dance and choral movement productions took place there, in addition to operas: during the Olympics and again in 1937 for the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Berlin, Handel's Hercules; also in 1937, Gluck's Orfeo; and in 1939, a production of Wagner's Rienzi paid for and co-designed by Hitler in association with Benno von Arent.
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