Behind the Scenes
A guided tour with the Director of Berliner Festspiele Matthias Pees
Plate at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele © Berliner Festspiele, Photo: Eike Walkenhorst
Why is whistling forbidden on stage? And when does the Iron Curtain come down? A walk through the Haus der Berliner Festspiele offers exciting insights into the world of the stage. During a guided tour on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the festival's artistic director Matthias Pees links the spatial with the content.
The construction of today's Berliner Festspiele building as the ”Theater der Freien Volksbühne” on the site of the former Joachimsthalersche Gymnasium north of Gerhart-Hauptmann-Anlage coincided with the building of the Berlin Wall. Under the directorship of Erwin Piscator, the building designed by architect Fritz Bornemann opened on 1 May 1963. Piscator and his successors Kurt Hübner and Hans Neuenfels made the house on Schaperstraße an important venue for political theater in Berlin. After a brief intermezzo as Musical Theater Berlin, the Berliner Festspiele have been based in the building on Schaperstraße since the turn of the millennium. Since then, the house has been the definitive home of all performative arts, i.e. theater, dance and music. During the Berlinale, the Haus der Berliner Festspiele also attracts cinema enthusiasts.
Hear about the practical realisation of artistic visions as Berliner Festspiele artistic director Matthias Pees guides you through the building, its rich history, and its artistic future.