Theatre in Berlin: Studies by the Knudsen ‘School’

Extract

This is the way in which in 1882 the journalist and writer Julius Hart — later one of the founders of the Freie Bühne – experienced the magnetic attraction of the young German capital. Like Hart, hundreds of poets, journalists, writers, actors rushed to the rapidly expanding metropolis which seemed to offer opportunities for all talents. From 1880 until the 1930s, Berlin represented a sort of theatrical Mecca. Writing and performing artists alike were completely captivated by the Berlin theatres, looking for their inspiration particularly to the Deutsches Theater, the Lessingtheater, the Schauspielhaus am Gendarmenmarkt; similarly, the editors of the entertainment sections of the provincial newspapers took as gospel the reviews in the Vossische Zeitung, the Berliner Tageblatt and the Berliner Börsen-Courier.