Famous: from then to now

1678 is an important year in the history of Hamburg's theatre scene. It was the year in which an opera house was founded on the Gänsemarkt, the first in Germany to be financed by the citizens. Telemann, Handel, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Mahler are just some of the names associated with the theatre. Today it is still world famous - as the Hamburg State Opera. It is also home to the Hamburg Ballet, made world famous by John Neumeier. Hamburg's two other state theatres are no less impressive: The Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg, founded in 1900 on private initiative in St. Georg, is Hamburg's largest theatre and one of the most important in the German-speaking world. The Thalia Theatre bears the name of the Greek muse of comedy, because in its early days in the 1840s it was not allowed to perform serious plays. Since 1912, it has had its main theatre in the old town, where its repertoire includes classics and contemporary works. Contemporary performing arts with music, theatre, dance and performances can be found at Kampnagel, a multifunctional stage complex in Winterhude and Germany's largest independent performance and production venue.

Established: even beyond Hamburg's borders

Hamburg is home to Germany's largest private theatre: the Ernst Deutsch Theatre, which sees itself as a forum for social debate and promotes young talent. Icons have appeared on its stage and it is Germany's most popular Low German folk theatre: the Ohnsorg Theatre! Founded in 1841, the St. Pauli Theatre is the oldest private theatre in Hamburg, located next to the Davidwache, and presents renowned artists with intelligent entertainment. Strange, beautiful, shrill: that's Schmidt's Tivoli on Spielbudenplatz in St. Pauli. Its repertoire includes "Die Heiße Ecke", a musical with cult status.

The Reeperbahn is also home to the Imperial Theatre, Hamburg's only crime theatre. The Altona Theatre brings literature to the stage, including classics, bestsellers and young works. The Hamburger Kammerspiele, not far from the Outer Alster, is one of the city's top private theatres. Hamburg's oldest vaudeville theatre is located on Steindamm in St. Georg: the Hansa Theatre stands for first-class acrobatics and the finest entertainment. The Winterhuder Fährhaus Comedy Theatre stages upmarket boulevard plays with a celebrity cast. And the Theatre at the Grossmarkt, in Hamburg's listed Grossmarkthallen, is showing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to great acclaim. The English Theatre of Hamburg, Germany's oldest English-language theatre, offers a cultural experience in the original English.

Free, experimental and special

It is the city's largest and best-known off-stage venue: Hamburg's Sprechwerk presents drama, dance theatre, children's theatre, performance, cabaret and improvisation. The LICHTHOF theatre in Bahrenfeld is a venue for independent performing arts. Hamburg's oldest off-stage theatre is the monsun.theatre, which focuses on contemporary drama. The Klabauter Theater, near the Berliner Tor, shows integrative theatre. The Harburg Theatre, whose history is closely linked to Altona, is firmly anchored in Hamburg's cultural landscape. In the east of the city, Das kleine Hoftheater offers high-quality entertainment theatre. Theatre at eye level can be found at Das Zimmer, the theatre in a former shop, the smallest private theatre in Hamburg with 40 seats. The Opernloft in the old ferry terminal in Altona offers special access to operas - here each opera lasts a maximum of 90 minutes - and the Hamburg Kammeroper (Allee-Theater), which stages the works in specially produced German versions. And what could be more fitting for the port city of Hamburg than a theatre on a ship? From its picturesque berth on the Nikolaifleet, the theatre ship claims to be Europe's only seaworthy stage.

Theatre for babies, children, teenagers and families

There is a huge range of educational theatre in Hamburg. In addition to the extra offerings of established theatres such as the Hamburg State Opera's jung, the Junge SchauSpielHaus, Thalia jung&mehr or musical adventures at Kampnagel such as the Klangfest by Kinder Kinder e.V., the Hanseatic city has a lot to offer for young theatre fans. Germany's first private children's theatre is the Theater für Kinder (Allee-Theater), which has been offering first-class theatre entertainment for the little ones since 1968. Children's theatre for all generations is on the repertoire of the FUNDUS THEATER | Forschungstheater in Hamm. Anchored in the middle of the city on the Isebek Canal is the HoheLuftschiff of the Theater Zeppelin ensemble, Hamburg's floating children's theatre. Haus Flachsland in Barmbek is home to Hamburg's only puppet theatre, the Hamburger Puppentheater.