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From the 17th century
plays were occasionally staged in the park of Schönbrunn,
but there was no permanent building until Empress
Maria Theresia commissioned Nikolaus Pacassi
to construct the Palace Theatre.
It opened in 1747 in the western wing
of the Palace and the empress was able to watch her
children dance, perform and stage tableaux vivants.
When Napoleon established
his headquarters in Schönbrunn, the theatre was
renovated. It reopened in 1809 with Racine’s Phèdre.
At the time of the Congress
of Vienna singers from the Kärntnertor
theatre performed there for the crowned heads then present
in Vienna.
During the reign of Ferdinand
I the theatre was used during the summer months,
with the Burgtheater (court theatre) mainly performing
comedies.
An electrical lighting system was
provided for the theatre in 1898, when electricity was
introduced into the Palace.
In 1929 Schönbrunn's theatre
was handed over to the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar
(Academy for Performing Arts) and since then
has been used as a rehearsal stage throughout the academic
year, from October to June.
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