Comoedienhaus

About

The Comoedienhaus theater, first opened on 3 September 1782, and demolished in 1911, was the first drama theater and opera house built in the German city of Frankfurt. Designed by renowned architect Johann Andreas Hardt Lieb, the Frankfurter National-Theater (which in 1842 became the Stadttheater, later renamed Comoedienhaus) became a popular venue for entertainment, particularly among the middle-class members of Frankfurt's society, and became known, even outside of Frankfurt itself, for its dramas and operas. It remained a centre of entertainment for over 100 years, and by the mid-nineteenth century, the population of the city was so great, and the theater still so popular, that the theater was regularly completely filled, despite the relatively high expense of admission.

As the first theater of performing arts in Frankfurt, it was a major contributor to the popularisation of the performing arts in Frankfurt and elsewhere in Germany. The performances seen within the Comoedienhaus included dramas and related cabarets, operas and concerts, among other novelty performances. Over the life of the theater, several well-known performers, musicians, and composers worked in the theater or...