Figaro is Moving In

Yesterday, after almost two years of renovation, and an investment of 23 million Euros, the newly refurbished Schiller Theater opened its doors as interim housing for the Staatsoper, Berlin's State Opera House on Unter den Linden. There is a sweet ironic twist to the turn of events.

Last Night at the Schiller
The Schiller Theater had been the leading light among West Berlin theaters in the 1950s and 60s. Samuel Beckett himself directed a production of Waiting for Godot here in 1975. But after reunification in 1989, Berlin ended up with more cultural institutions than any other German city, and state funds could not support them all. Two theaters from former east Berlin, the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne, made the final cut, but the Schiller Theater had to go.

Berliners still remember the firestorm of protest, the demonstrations, the historic Long Night of the Artists -- a final defiant marathon performance lasting through the night -- and then, the closing in late September 1993.

photo: dpa

Now, exactly 17 years later, and in time for the 20th anniversary of German Unification, a newly gleaming Schiller Theater reopens in the west, and the famous opera house from former east Berlin moves in.  The Staatsoper, undergoing a major three-year renovation, is using the Schiller Theater as its temporary home till 2013. Daniel Barenboim, its music director, called it the reunification made complete.

Figaro is Moving In
Figaro is Moving In is the name of a special guided tour offered by the Schiller Theater during the season's opening days. It takes visitors not only through the building but also to production cast members as they get ready for a performance. Tickets for the tour sold out almost immediately, but although you may have missed it, you can still take the regular guided tour, which offers fascinating glimpses of the restoration work required to make a 1950s theater for dramatic productions suitable for a twenty-first century opera house.

The 1950s design elements are still there: wall frescoes, copper embellishments, Murano-glass ceiling lights, iridiscent mosaic in the foyer's front window. The old 1950s cafeteria lies untouched and even the pastel tones of carpets have been retained. But layers of black paint have been stripped from the walls facing the stage, exposing original warm maple wood panels, front row seats have been ripped out to carve out space for an orchestra pit that can take 120 musicians, and engineers have doubled the resonance in the hall (from 0.9 to almost 2.0 seconds). Take the tour to find out more!

Sleepless in Charlottenburg
There is also a series of night tours that takes place after a performance, and a late-night music and literary series (accompanied by champagne) in the foyer called "Sleepless in Charlottenburg". You don't have to be an opera buff to enjoy the Schiller Theater this season.

For more information, dates and times of the tours, go to the Staatsoper in the Schiller Theater website.
Tours cost 5 EUR (regular price). Tours are in German only.
The Sleepless in Charlottenburg series starts in November and begins at 10:30 pm. Tickets are 15 EUR (regular price).


The Schiller Theater is at Bismarckstrasse 110, 10625 Berlin. The nearest subway is U Ernst-Reuter Platz.