Kurhaus & Stadttheater Meran
Freiheitsstr. 33
I-39012 - Meran
+39 0473 496000
info@kurhaus.it
- Ente Gestione Teatro e Kurhaus di Merano
- Information for
HISTORY OF THE THEATRE
Rise, fall and rebirth
In its heyday at the beginning of the 20th century, the theatre ensemble was giving up to 250 performances a year: at first mainly operetta, and later also operas.
By the second half of the 1920s, the theatre no longer had its own ensemble. Travelling opera companies and German operetta and comedy ensembles featured on the bill. In the 1930s the cinema began enticing audiences away, and the Merano Theatre experienced lean times. Urgently necessary renovation works was not possible: there was no money and, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the theatre went dark.
In the 1950s there were performances by a local theatre group, the “Südtiroler Landesbühne”, and thereafter only guest performances.
At the end of the 1960s the theatre was closed after a fire and was only reopened on 28 November 1978 after a thorough renovation. Nowadays there are various German and Italian guest performances as well as productions by local theatre ensembles.
In 2000, the roof was renewed and the facade was repainted in its original bright colours. On 1 December 2000 a ceremony and various events celebrated the theatre’s 100th anniversary.
Today the theatre is once more a popular setting for special events and, together with the Kurhaus, ranks as one of the South Tyrol’s finest event venues.
In its heyday at the beginning of the 20th century, the theatre ensemble was giving up to 250 performances a year: at first mainly operetta, and later also operas.
By the second half of the 1920s, the theatre no longer had its own ensemble. Travelling opera companies and German operetta and comedy ensembles featured on the bill. In the 1930s the cinema began enticing audiences away, and the Merano Theatre experienced lean times. Urgently necessary renovation works was not possible: there was no money and, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the theatre went dark.
In the 1950s there were performances by a local theatre group, the “Südtiroler Landesbühne”, and thereafter only guest performances.
At the end of the 1960s the theatre was closed after a fire and was only reopened on 28 November 1978 after a thorough renovation. Nowadays there are various German and Italian guest performances as well as productions by local theatre ensembles.
In 2000, the roof was renewed and the facade was repainted in its original bright colours. On 1 December 2000 a ceremony and various events celebrated the theatre’s 100th anniversary.
Today the theatre is once more a popular setting for special events and, together with the Kurhaus, ranks as one of the South Tyrol’s finest event venues.
