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The municipal theatre of Merano
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The Merano Theatre was built in 1900 in only 14 months and was inaugurated on 1 December 1900 with Goethe’s "Faust". The outer facade is classicist in style, but also includes Art Nouveau ornamentation. The interior is an outstanding example of Art Nouveau decoration. The building was designed by Martin Dülfer, a famous exponent of Art Nouveau architecture from Munich. Until the beginning of World War I, the theatre had its own permanent ensemble, which was of high artistic quality, and there were up to 250 performances per year.
There has not been a permanent ensemble since the second half of the 1920s. The theatre was then re-named after the composer Giacomo Puccini and Italian theatre and opera ensembles alternated with German operetta and comedy ensembles. Later on the theatre was increasingly used as a cinema rather than a theatre. Due to a shortage of money and World War II, long overdue renovation work was not possible.
In the 1950s, there were performances by a local theatre group, the "Südtiroler Landesbühne". Later on there were only guest performances. At the end of the 1960s, the theatre was closed after a fire, and was reopened on 28 November 1978 after a thorough renovation. Nowadays there are various German and Italian guest performances as well as productions by local theatre ensembles. In 2000, the roof was renewed and the facade was repainted in its original light colour.
On 1st December 2000, there was a ceremony and various events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the theatre. Since 1993, the Merano Theatre has been directed and administered by the Meraner Stadttheater- und Kurhausverein, which consists of the following three corporations: the Autonomous Province of Bozen, the Meran Town Council and the Meran Spa Adminstration.
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