Buried alive? The new Burgtheater on Vienna’s Ringstrasse

Well before midday, queues had formed outside the new theatre in the hope of obtaining tickets for the opening performance. When the box office opened at six o’clock in the evening, chaos broke out – some fell and many were injured in the crush but still failed to get their hands on tickets. The opening evening became a showcase of Viennese high society, which paraded through the spacious foyer and up the sweeping staircases.

The theatre was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper, who was responsible for the ground plan, and Carl Hasenauer, who designed the façade. Construction had started in 1874 and taken over fourteen years to complete.
The theatre was lavishly decorated. The ceiling frescos above the two stairwells were painted by the 24-year-old Gustav Klimt together with his younger brother Ernst and fellow-student from the Academy, Franz Matsch. The three young artists had formed an ‘artists’ company’ and had already executed several similar commissions in the Crown Lands. Now they had the opportunity of showing off their talents in the imperial capital for the first time, and in a highly prominent place at that.

Its imposing design and magnificent decoration paired with technical innovations – the Burgtheater was the first monumental building to have electric lighting, initially made it popular with the public. However, the poor acoustics and deficiencies in the stage machinery soon made themselves noticeable and in 1897 the auditorium had to be remodelled.
The actors were apprehensive about the huge interior. Only by enunciating clearly and using vigorous delivery could they be understood by audiences.

After a series of alterations the ‘Burg’ became a much-frequented meeting-place for Viennese society and established its claim to be the ‘foremost German stage’. Besides classics and German comedies it also included more recent, socially critical works in its repertoire.

The first play by Arthur Schnitzler to be performed was Liebelei. In 1901 Lumpazivagabundus became the first play by the popular playwright Johann Nestroy to be performed at the Burgtheater. However, there were only two further performances. Like Raimund, Nestroy was not considered suitable fare by the theatre’s audiences.