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Hebbel Theatre
Address:
Friedrichstr. 107
In 1988 the Werkstatt Berlin paved
the way for the Hebbel Theater's pilot experiment. According
to Volker Hassemer, the cultural senator of Berlin at the time,
the Werkstatt Berlin was to carve West Berlin into the public
consciousness as the Cultural Capital of Europe. Under the direction
of Nele Hertling, a rather unconventional program was especially
developed, dedicated almost exclusively to the production and
presentation of contemporary culture. The central idea was to
invite artists from around the world to Berlin in order to give
creative life in the city new impetus.
The creation of a network was underway. Thanks to the contacts
gained through this project, the Hebbel Theater managed to continue
working on its image as a theatre offering an international
program almost seamlessly.
The concept, with which the team at the Hebbel Theater began
in January 1989, was regarded as unusual and highly risky not
only in Berlin, but in Germany in general: the theatre was without
its own company, without a special repertoire or extensive administrative
body, and with only a small team of regular employees and an
artistic budget which was very limited in comparison with that
of the usual state and city theatres. "When we began here,
to see a pedestrian on the Stresemannstrasse was a rarity",
remembers Nele Hertling today. Situated amongst post-war apartment
blocks in the vicinity of the Berlin Wall, the Hebbel Theatre
was at the time located in a rather desolate part of Berlin.
This situation changed dramatically with the fall of the Wall
in November 1989: "Suddenly we were in the middle of the
city; we quickly hooked up with people from the East, and discovered
great interest for contemporary dance and musical theatre."
A year later, the Hebbel Theater in Berlin was classified as
a historical monument and saved from demolition. Thereafter,
the theatre was used primarily as an alternative stage for other
Berlin theatres (until the beginning of the 1980s, when its
state of disrepair made it unusable). Thanks to the private
association "Save the Hebbel Theater in Berlin-Kreuzberg",
and the engagement of Hans Rosenthal and other well-known actors
and public figures, the dilapidated theatre was never completely
abandoned. And on the 750th anniversary of Berlin, renovations
on the building were finally undertaken by the Berlin Senate.
In 1988, Berlin was chosen as the Cultural Capital of Europe
and the city's the Hebbel Theater re-opened as part of the Werkstatt
Berlin with international productions and guest performances.
At the beginning of 1989, Nele Hertling took over as managing
and artistic director, and transformed it within a few years
into an attractive location for high caliber contemporary, international
and genre-mixing theatre.
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