Travelling Around Austria with a Local - #019 Tales from the Bear Village: All Berndorf's a stage

The interior of Berndorf's marvellous theatre. Picture by Wikimedia Commons / Manfred Werner

All the world's a stage...

Hi, Servus - and welcome to my blog Travelling Around Austria with a Local!

I'm Theodora from Austria. Together with friends from abroad, I'm exploring my home country - and I talk about its beauty and its curiosities. The nineteenth episode will be about a theatre for workers and why culture plays such a big role in this small town called Berndorf.

Quite a stunning view from the balcony. Picture by Wikimedia Commons / Manfred Werner

To be or not to be...

...that is indeed the question. Arthur Krupp, a business tycoon in the silverware industry, decided that to be is a lot better when one can go to the theatre from time to time - and how right he was! The theatre was built in 1897-1898 - and opened to mark the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph's reign.

However, the theatre wasn't opened until 1899. Why? Because Empress Elisabeth, also known as Sisi, was murdered by Luigi Lucheni in 1898 in Geneva - and Emperor Franz Joseph was grieving for his wife.

After the grand opening, theatre companies performed there twice a week. Arthur Krupp subsidised the tickets so that his workers were able to afford them. People from outside Berndorf arrived by a special theatre train.

Interesting fact: The entrance is at the back of the theatre. Picture by Wikimedia Commons / Herzi Pinki

Only three years later, the theatre nearly burned down and it was once again Arthur Krupp, who paid for its renovation. (Remember how I wrote that the people of Berndorf burned his manor down?)

Tips from a local

• There are a lot of concerts by local and famous musicians in the theatre nowaways. The program can be found on the website of Bühnen Berndorf (Berndorf's stages).
• Furthermore, there is a big theatre festival in summer, which is currently directed by the Austrian actress Kristina Sprenger - but be quick: those tickets are usually sold out rapidly!
• The theatre is, however, even worth a visit when nothing's going on because it is simply beautiful. It is usually closed for visitors, but if you book a guided tour through Berndorf, you will be allowed to enter with a tourist guide. Those tours are highly recommended as most of the tourist guides have been living in Berndorf for their whole lives (50 years and more) and will tell you a lot of interesting stories. You can book such tours at Berndorf's tourist office.

Fun fact:
The entrance is at the back of the theatre. This is not because the architects weren't capable of designing a building properly, but because the course of the roads were changed long after the theatre had been built. Nowadays, you enter and leave the theatre through the marvellous theatre park, which is often the location for festivals such as Berndorf's Christmas market.

Tales from the Bear Village

• Episode 1: Study like an Egyptian
• Episode 2: Berndorf - a love story
• Episode 3: All Berndorf's a stage
• Episode 4: The helpful bear
• Episode 5: Analogue photography isn't dead
• Episode 6: Konnichiwa, Lower Austria!
• Episode 7: Anton vs. Napoleon: a story about resistance