STADTTHEATER ASCHAFFENBURG
Conversion, restoration and extension of a listed theatre building.

The Aschaffenburg Municipal Theatre was founded in a three-gabled Renaissance building during the reign of Grand Duke Carl Theodor von Dalberg. The building never had its own representative theatre façade. The architect has also remained unknown to this day. All that is known is that the building was opened in 1811. The theatre experienced an eventful history with many conversions and changes of use. In 1944, it was badly damaged in an air raid. However, it was put back into operation as a temporary theatre in 1947.

The area around the theatre had changed considerably as a result of the destruction caused by the war. In place of the dense old town development, an open area had emerged that was used as a car park for many years. In addition, the new town hall building introduced a new urban scale to the old town centre. The construction of an underground car park finally freed up the car park for new uses.

In 2000, the city council decided to carry out a complete refurbishment of the theatre instead of the individual measures that had become necessary time and again. At the same time, the theatre square was to be redesigned. The decision was made in favour of an expert opinion process with the participation of the citizens.

In 2001, we were commissioned with the planning together with the Wolfgang Lautenschläger office. The first construction phase was a two-storey city loggia that closed off the theatre square towards the town hall. It also included access to the underground car park and a small ice cream parlour. The theatre square was built in the next construction phase. It was surfaced with light grey granite and a large horizontal sundial. A small watercourse divides the square into a sunny and a shady area. The square offers a pleasant and consumption-free outdoor space. In our eyes, it is the ‘living room’ of the Dalberg quarter.

The third construction phase concerns the theatre itself. In addition to the basic refurbishment, a second foyer was added to the upper floor and rooms were added for the new theatre restaurant.

The façade facing the square, which had been missing since the destruction of the war, was completed and topped off with a wide projecting canopy that corresponds with the roof of the city loggia.

With its façade dating from different periods (Renaissance, Classicism, reconstruction, present day), the municipal theatre makes the eventful history of the theatre itself visible. The theatre was reopened in 2011 to celebrate its 200th anniversary.