Baroque Castle Theatre
The Baroque Castle Theatre in Český Krumlov is a world-renowned rarity due to its authenticity.
Accessibility
May - October - more informations HERE
Entrance fee
Additional information
The Baroque Castle Theatre in Český Krumlov is located in the Fifth Courtyard of Český Krumlov Castle, behind the castle moat near the western wing, connected by the so-called Cloak Bridge with a covered corridor leading from the Masquerade Hall to the princely box of the castle theatre.
The first indirect reports of the beginnings of theatre culture at Český Krumlov Castle date back to the late 15th century. The actual flourishing of theatrical life occurred during the rule of Wilhelm and Peter Vok of Rožmberk in the second half of the 16th century. In 1675, Prince Johann Christian I of Eggenberg had a theatre scene built in the so-called Deer Hall of Krumlov Castle, but already between 1680 and 1682, a new separate theatre building was constructed in the Fifth Courtyard, where the preserved theatre stands today. In 1765-1766, this building was renovated and equipped with new furnishings and decorations by Josef Adam von Schwarzenberg. The unique technique for changing scenery and other decorations was created by Viennese carpenter Lorenz Makh, while wall paintings, ceiling decorations, curtains, and backdrops were made by Viennese painters Hans Wetschel and Leo Märkl.
The Baroque theatre at Český Krumlov Castle represents an advanced Baroque stage. The original theatre inventory is preserved in both material realities - the building, auditorium, orchestra pit, stage, stage machinery (known as mašinerie), decorations, costumes, props, lighting equipment, fire safety equipment, etc. - and in rich archival documentation including librettos, scripts, texts, scores, musical notation, inventories, accounts, iconographic material, and other information about theatrical life from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Comparable to Český Krumlov's Baroque theatre is only the Swedish Royal Theatre in Drottningholm near Stockholm, built in 1766, which has also been preserved along with its technical equipment. However, its decorations date from the 1770s and exhibit classical features. In contrast, the decorations in Český Krumlov derive from the style of illusory European Baroque, influenced significantly by the Italian scenographer and Viennese court theatre architect Giuseppe Galli - Bibiena.