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30-499: The Volksbühne was built during the years 1913 to 1914 and was designed by Oskar Kaufmann , with integrated sculpture by Franz Metzner , who had both previously collaborated on the Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz cinema in 1912–1913. It opened on December 30, 1914 and has its origin in an organization known as the "Freie Volksbühne" ("Free People's Theater") founded in 1890 by Bruno Wille and Wilhelm Bölsche , which sketched out

60-664: A Berlin building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oskar Kaufmann Oskar Kaufmann (2 February 1873 – 8 September 1956) was a Hungarian architect. He was an expert in construction and design and was active in Berlin beginning in 1900. Among his best-known works are the Krolloper , the Hebbel Theater and the Renaissance Theater  [ de ] , all in Berlin,

90-833: A bed and breakfast in Berlin that would later be destroyed in World War II . He was also contacted to coordinate the décor for a bedroom used by the Wertheim company. This job put Kaufmann into contact with theater entrepreneur and director Eugen Robert . Robert commissioned Kaufmann to help him in the construction of a new theater he was planning, as Robert had been deeply impressed with the theater Kaufmann had built in Bielefeld. In connection with this and other works Kaufmann constructed while in Sehring's office, Kaufmann established his own architecture firm in 1908, on Luitpoldstraße in

120-557: A bid, Max Littmann , bowed out of the running, was Kaufmann invited to take his place. It was therefore significant when Kaufmann was selected, by a jury including such notable architects as Max Liebermann and Otto March , to design a new building for the Charlottenburg opera. However, for various reasons this never came to fruition. Nonetheless, his work on the Bremerhaven and Hebbel theaters, as well as his selection by

150-472: A grade of "good". Also during his education in Karlsruhe, Kaufmann met his future bride, Emma Gönner, daughter of the mayor of the town of Baden-Baden . They married in 1903, at which point Kaufmann converted to Christianity at his father-in-law's behest. In Berlin, Kaufmann got a job in the architectural firm of the well-known theater construction firm of Bernhard Sehring . He was assigned to construct

180-421: A new theater in the city of Bielefeld . It was his first solo project, and was influenced by the work of another Karlsruhe architect, Hermann Billings , whom Kaufmann never actually met in person, although they lived in Karlsruhe at the same time. The influence of Alfred Messel 's works can also be seen in the building's design. From 1905 until 1908, Kaufmann worked on small projects in Sehring's office, such as

210-616: A pianist. The tension was so great that Kaufmann's parents refused to support him financially, so that he had to leave Hungary and continue his education in Germany, at the Großherzogliche Technische Hochschule (English: Grand Ducal Technical College) in Karlsruhe . Ironically, he supported himself by working as a pianist. This placed him in contact with many people from the local opera scene, among them

240-560: A prize from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Stolzer made blueprints for Kaufmann, who was so impressed with him that in 1916 he made him chief partner in his architectural firm. Stolzer and Kaufmann designed many of their buildings together, and had extremely similar styles. Because he lacked German citizenship, Kaufmann was not drafted into the German military during World War I. He used this time to further his architectural firm. However,

270-533: A state pension. Kaufmann was also able to continue his architectural work through government commissions. When Kaufmann died in Budapest at the age of 83 in 1956, he had produced two more theaters. His final work, which was completed four years after his death, was the renovation of the Madách Theater in Budapest. Felix Mottl Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911)

300-838: The Bröhan Museum showed his furniture in the exhibition Deutschland gegen Frankreich – Der Kampf um den Stil . The Great Depression , although it did not affect Kaufmann's firm as strongly as many of his business contacts, caused a marked decline in the number of commissions his firm received. The Machtergreifung , or seizure of power by the Nazi Party in January 1933, caused Kaufmann's partner Stolzer to flee to Palestine in May of that year, and Kaufmann himself followed Stolzer to Palestine in September. A Moscow-based theater group,

330-750: The Neue Stadttheater  [ de ] in Vienna, and the Habima Theater in Tel Aviv. Kaufmann was born in Újszentanna/Neu Sankt Anna (today Sântana ), near Arad, Romania ), the son of a wealthy and prestigious Jewish family in Hungary. After completing the Abitur , he began to study architecture at a university in Budapest. This created tension with his parents, who wished him to become

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360-627: The Schöneberg section of Berlin. The firm later moved to Ansbacherstraße in Charlottenburg . The theater that Robert commissioned Kaufmann to build, the Hebbel Theater, gained Kaufmann his first widespread recognition. However, his perceived inexperience still counted against him, as he was not invited to make a bid on the renovation of the Stadttheater Bremerhaven . Only after one of the three architects invited to make

390-518: The Theater am Kurfürstendamm  [ de ] and the Krolloper . The latter took nine years to build, from 1920 to 1929. Especially Kaufmann's style of his interiors can be described as non puristic. In 1928 art critic Max Osborn invented the term Expressionist Rococo to describe Kaufmann's work. Some furniture designed by Kaufmann was exhibited for the first time after World War II in 2015 by Markus Winter at Lampedo Gallery, New York. In 2016

420-660: The Ufa-Pavillon am Nollendorfplatz in 1912–1913, and the Berlin Volksbühne in 1913–1914; the sculptor Franz Metzner collaborated with him on both these projects. During construction of the new City Theater of Bremerhaven, Kaufmann met the young Hungarian architect Eugen Stolzer . Stolzer had studied at the Technical University of Munich from 1904 to 1908 and had won the Hungarian National Architecture award as well as

450-621: The Charlottenburg jury, all served to give Kaufmann a strong reputation as a theater architect. When the decision to exclude Kaufmann from a competition to redesign the Berlin Royal Opera for the technical reason that he had not received German citizenship in his thirty years in Germany, was met with scorn and disagreement in the press and among architectural experts, his newfound reputation was only confirmed. Kaufmann designed Berlin's first free-standing, purpose-built cinema,

480-580: The Habima group, wished to build a new theater in the city of Tel Aviv. The project was first given to another German architect, Erich Mendelsohn , but the bid was withdrawn after Mendelsohn showed too little interest in the project. It was then offered to Kaufmann, who soon accepted, and moved his family to Palestine. In addition to this theater, he built a cinema for the city of Haifa , and a row of private apartments. However, in Palestine Kaufmann

510-504: The commission by Leo Lewin for the interior of his villa in Breslau. Some of Kaufmann's first private commissions consisted of a series of villas built in and around Berlin, many of which still survive. Kaufmann, however, soon grew to dislike designing villas and other single-family dwellings, as they did not prove financially profitable enough for his firm. He returned to theater building and constructed two notable theaters during this time,

540-533: The first complete Ring Cycle at Bayreuth in 1876, and himself conducted Tristan und Isolde at Bayreuth in 1886. The best-known version of Wagner's " Wesendonck Lieder " is an orchestration by Mottl. From 1881 to 1903 he was chief conductor at the Karlsruhe Opera and was widely renowned for his work there, particularly in Wagner, Berlioz and Chabrier , whose operas he championed. In 1903 he conducted

570-477: The premier of Friederich Klose 's opera Ilsebill there to great acclaim. He also orchestrated Chabrier's Bourrée fantasque and Trois valses romantiques , and arranged a popular suite of orchestral excerpts from Christoph Willibald Gluck 's operas. In later years, as a conductor of Wagner especially, he visited Amsterdam, London and New York, guest-conducting the Metropolitan Opera in 1903. He

600-621: The theatre was heavily damaged like much of the rest of Berlin. From 1950 to 1954, it was rebuilt according to the designs of architect Hans Richter  [ de ] . Frank Castorf became director in 1992. During his 25-year tenure, through mid 2017, the theater's ambitious, experimental productions, brought it worldwide recognition as a leading European venue. In 2015 the City of Berlin announced that Castorf would be replaced by Chris Dercon in 2017, who himself resigned in April 2018 after what

630-508: The then-director of the Karlsruhe Hofoper (Court Opera), composer Felix Mottl . Mottl appreciated Kaufmann's skills as a pianist, and he and other musical contacts of Kaufmann's would prove to be important influences on his later architectural work. Among Kaufmann's teachers during his studies were Josef Durm , Otto Warth , Carl Schäfer , and Max Laeuger . Kaufmann graduated with his engineering diploma on 14 December 1899, with

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660-609: The vision for a theatre "of the people" in 1892. The goal of the organization was to promote the naturalist plays of the day at prices accessible to the common worker. The original slogan inscribed on the edifice was "Die Kunst dem Volke" ("The art of the people"). Two of the earlier artistic directors were the innovative Max Reinhardt from 1915 to 1918, and during the Weimar Republic the socio-political theatre reformer Erwin Piscator in 1924–1927. During World War II ,

690-452: The war had a negative impact on the amount of business Kaufmann's firm received, although he did receive an offer, never executed, from Max Reinhardt , head of the influential Volksbühne (Folk Stage), to build a new ballet theater. It is not clear whether Reinhardt seriously wanted Kaufmann to build the new theater or not. From then on, Kaufmann decided to take private commissions. Kaufmann also worked on private projects. In 1917 he accepted

720-524: Was a British protectorate at the time. After September 1940, Kaufmann and his wife settled in Bucharest. However, the rising pressure put on the Romanian Jewish community by the fascist government of Ion Antonescu and Horia Sima forced them to move once again, to Hungary. The situation for Jewish war refugees in Hungary was better than in surrounding countries, but still grim. Kaufmann's wife

750-478: Was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which Agnes Bernauer ( Weimar , 1880) was the most successful, as well as a string quartet and numerous songs and other music. His orchestration of Richard Wagner 's " Wesendonck Lieder " is still the most commonly performed version. He was also a teacher, and his pupils included Ernest van Dyck and Wilhelm Petersen . Mottl

780-694: Was born in Unter Sankt Veit , today Hietzing , Vienna in 1856. His date of birth has been reported variously as 29 July, 24 August, and 29 August. After early voice training at the Löwenburg Konvikt, a training school for the Imperial Court Chapel, he had a successful career at the Vienna Conservatory. He was soon recognized as a gifted conductor of Wagner 's music, assisted Hans Richter in preparing

810-472: Was considered by many to have been a commercially and artistically weak period for the theater. Left-wing activists occupied the theater in September 2017. René Pollesch was appointed to be a new director from 2021. 52°31′37″N 13°24′43″E  /  52.52694°N 13.41194°E  / 52.52694; 13.41194 This article about a theatre building in Germany is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about

840-686: Was made a director of the Academy of Arts, Berlin in 1904. In June 1907 he cut some player piano rolls with Welte-Mignon , including his own piano transcription of the Prelude, the Love Duet and Brangäne's Warning from Tristan . He suffered a heart attack on 21 June 1911 while conducting his 100th performance of Tristan in Munich. He was taken to a hospital where he died 11 days later on 2 July, aged 54, but not before marrying his longtime mistress,

870-403: Was not able to survive the harsh conditions and died in Hungary in 1942. Kaufmann avoided the mass deportation of Jews that took place in Hungary in 1944, but he was without income and found his financial situation worsening. In 1947, the new Hungarian government, under President Zoltán Tildy , decreed that any artist over the age of 60, which included the then 74-year-old Kaufmann, would receive

900-680: Was unable to attain the same success and reputation that he had attained in Berlin. On top of that, the economic situation in Palestine was quite poor, so much so that Kaufmann received no more commissions after 1937. Because of the Palestinian economic situation, Kaufmann was forced to return to Europe in 1939. His many contacts helped him on his journey, but the outbreak of World War II kept him from reaching his intended final destination, England. The new, restrictive travel laws also made it impossible for Kaufmann to travel back to Palestine, as it

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