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Max Burckhard (1854-1912)
Director of the Burgtheater & Alma´s mentor
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Max Burckhard
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Max Burckhard, a lawyer, became director of the theatre on
May 12, 1890. He remained director of the theatre for eight
years. He brought a fresh perspective to the theatre and introduced
Sunday matinees at a reduced cost in order to widen their
audience. He later remarked that the less wealthy audiences
were the most "critically acute". While director,
he remodeled the auditorium in the spring and summer of 1897,
and introduced contemporary drama by Henrik Ibsen, Gerhart
Hauptmann, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal to the
Viennese audience as well as Austrian classics by Ludwig Anzengruber
and Ferdinand Raimund. He hired famous actors like Friedrich
Mitterwurzer, Adele Sandrock, Lotte Medelsky, Otto Tressler,
Hedwig Bleibtreu and Josef Kainz. Burckhard was dismissed
from his role of director in January 1898 because he closed
the theatre mid-season for renovations.
The Burgtheater began in 1741, and is till now the leading
playhouse in Austria. The Burgtheater is the second-oldest
theatre still in existence (second only to The Comedie Francaise).
The theatre was the former imperial court theatre in Austria
and one of the most important theatres in Europe. The theatre
seats 1175, with additional standing room.
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above: Max Burckhard
left: Max Burckhard with actor Josef Kainz |
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