It's finally happening: Our KuSch Company is going to bring their first musical to the stage! The piece called "Dreamland" was written by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen (German translation by Jens Luckwaldt, published by Concord Theatricals) and was introduced at a festival in the USA in 2019.

What is it about? The authors describe it as a fast-paced B-movie version of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," enhanced with captivating musical numbers that capture the energy of "Glee," an American musical comedy television series.

The plot has been modernized and is set at the secret US military base "Area 51" - codenamed "Dreamland" - in Nevada (USA). The area is famous for countless conspiracy theories, particularly those revolving around the landing and study of extraterrestrial life forms.

Now, the military base is set to be transformed into a family attraction. However, before that happens, a group of students is sent into the facility to prove that it is completely safe and that there are no aliens hidden there - really none?

The "classic" Midsummer Night's Dream is reflected in some roles that are not fairies but creatures from another world.

In short: There are conspiracy theories, cover-ups, and love! And above all, quirky humor!

KuSch Company Premiere - our first musical production is already something special.

Fire away! New program
Here it is at last: the new solo program from the rocker on the stool from RPR1. The children have finally moved out, fortunately, the good life is just around the corner. Or so he thought. But then, only his wife stands at the door... with a dog! The rocker's reason to set off a firework of stories about his new life, in which the last child now has fur... Everything was better in the past anyway - back then there were real detectives and gas station attendants, and his quirks weren't so bad yet. And while he ponders life, the dog is ready to go for a walk again!

So: "Fire away!"

Foyer and bar open at 4:00 PM. Admission to the hall from 4:30 PM.

Elisabeth's life unfolds between the anatomical institute and the welfare office. Scarcity is her strongest driving force. In order to earn money - she is a saleswoman for corsets, stockings, and bras - she needs a hawker's license, which costs 150 marks. For this amount, she would like to sell her body to the anatomical institute while still alive, which is not possible. The anatomist feels sorry for her and lends her the money. When he learns that Elisabeth has lied to him, he sends her to prison. But Elisabeth does not give up: young, hopeful, and determined to make her own luck, she fights with all means for her existence.

Ödön von Horváth's play is signed with "A little death dance in five acts": It shows the tragicomic struggle of the individual in a merciless society, in which the marginalized individual no longer plays a role.

2024-09-29_The Eternal Snob

2024-11-30_Mindfully Murdering

2025-02-15_Things I Know for Sure

2025-03-22_Rent a Friend

2025-04-26_Waiting for the Bus

Experience the hits of the incomparable Swedish cult band ABBA,
with around 400 million records sold, one of the most successful bands of all time!

Accompanied by an exquisite multi-course menu, we will take you back to the
era of bell-bottoms and platform shoes.

In authentic costumes, our artists revive the disco era with hits like "Dancing Queen"
and "Mamma Mia" and many more.

Become part of an unforgettable evening, up close with Anni-Frid, Björn, Benni, and Agnetha
and embark on a journey into the musical world of ABBA.

Doors open: 4:30 pm

by Nis-Momme Stockmann

What does a general director need, whose contract extension is in jeopardy and whose operation is crumbling and seething on all sides? Of course, a big success! A new play! Best written by an up-and-coming young author and directed by a successful young director - that's sure to win back the hearts of local cultural politics. In this theater farce, where everyone only thinks of themselves and the staff get lost in small wars, a desperate theater chief takes action:
He opens a portal through which demons escape and transform the theater into a Dionysian chaos...
"It is a bombastic fireworks display, a gigantic parody of the theater industry and how we talk about theater - about all that we currently reflect on in the theater," raved Deutschlandfunk after the premiere of the new play by Nis-Momme Stockmann in January 2024. To close the series of premieres of the play in the Grand Theatre, the theater itself takes a hit and the Aachen audience enjoys a comedy festival.

Eight Classical Concerts

Tickets may still be available at local box offices or at the door.

Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

The Art and Natural History Chamber is considered the oldest German museum room. It was established by August Hermann Francke for educational purposes and is now once again set up according to the original museum concept of the 18th century in its historical location in the attic of the Historical Orphanage.

Eighteen richly decorated collection cabinets house approximately 3000 natural specimens, curiosities, and artifacts. They provide a unique impression of a Baroque cabinet of curiosities. Unlike modern museums, the chamber follows an encyclopedic collecting approach. A distinction is made between natural specimens and artifacts. The natural specimens are divided into rocks, plants, and animals, while the artifacts are categorized into visual arts, calligraphy, coins, everyday culture, and clothing. The goal was to create a mirror image of the world: a microcosm that made the macrocosm as the wonderful creation of God tangible.

In a series of events, art projects take place around the Art and Natural History Chamber. In the so-called "Contemporary Reflections on the Art and Natural History Chamber," foundations invite artists to engage in an artistic dialogue with the chamber.

Detailed information

Tue-Sun 10am-5pm

Palace-like, the orphanage rises on Franckeplatz. Then as now, it is the centerpiece of the Francke Foundations. Erected in 1698 as the first building of the school city, it represents a new facet of European Baroque, combining confident representation without extravagant ornamentation and setting the tone for orphanage architecture.

Today, the orphanage is our museum and cultural center. Right from the start, two permanent exhibitions guide you through the history of the foundation and the global impact of Pietism. On the first floor, the former prayer and singing hall surprises with its bright architecture. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a concert hall due to its fantastic acoustics. In the adjacent conference rooms, a photo exhibition showcases the impressive renovation work since the foundations were reestablished in 1991. The second floor is reserved for our changing special exhibitions, which provide insight into important themes of the foundation's history from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Passing through the art and natural history collections in the attic, you reach the balcony via a narrow wooden staircase. Here, a wide view opens up over the impressive ensemble with school buildings from three centuries. There is also a splendid panorama of the Old Town of Halle from here. In the basement, children can explore their own paths in the Krokoseum.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

What power does the word have? For Halleschen Pietismus, the word was of central importance. On the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage, we show you how August Hermann Francke's reform movement could spread around the world.

Francke developed central reformative goals of Martin Luther's with Halleschen Pietismus. His approach was as clear as it was revolutionary: Every person should find God through their own Bible reading. However, for this to happen, everyone - boys and girls alike - had to learn to read, everyone should be able to afford their own Bible and it should be printed in their own native language. Therefore, Francke established schools for all social classes, printed millions of German-language People's Bibles, and created an international network through which the Bible was translated into many other languages. His educational initiative allowed a broad population to engage with the word. In the 18th-century evangelical parsonages, the authors of the Romantic and Enlightenment periods were highly regarded. A culture of self-reflection spread in Pietism, which was reflected in diaries and personal testimonies, giving us remarkable insights into the spiritual life of people of that time. Symbolically, the power of the word is also evident in the meticulously restored pulpit from the Church of St. Ulrich in Halle, where Francke preached from 1715 and which you can admire in the exhibition.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

4 talers and 16 groschen are considered the founding capital of the Francke Foundations. How an unparalleled school city grew from this unexpected donation to a simple pastor in Glaucha can be discovered on the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage. A multimedia installation and numerous extraordinary objects will transport you into the fascinating founding and impact history of Francke's work. Because what began with a school for the poor and an orphanage, developed in a few decades into a true reform project that was based on education: Over 2,000 students learned in various schools, specially constructed economic buildings, a hospital, and a pharmacy guaranteed the care of over 3,000 people on the premises, unique cultural-historical collections in the library and chamber of wonders were established, and Francke's ideas were spread within and outside Europe. August Hermann Francke wanted nothing less than a "world change through personal change." Discover everything he set in motion through this.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Programme will be announced later.

MDR Symphony Orchestra
MDR Children's Choir
Magyar Radio Symphony Orchestra (Hungarian Radio Children's Choir)
Soma Dinyés - Conductor
Alexander Schmitt - Conductor

On October 14, 2023, the MDR Children's Choir performed a concert with the Hungarian Radio Children's Choir at the Matthias Church in Budapest. The program featured works from the Baroque to Modern era. This was already the second collaborative production – in March of the same year, the young Hungarian singers had been guests in Leipzig. The emerging vibrant continuity of collaboration between both ensembles will be continued with this concert. Artistic directors Alexander Schmitt and Soma Dinyés will once again share the conducting duties.

After the huge success of the Lucky Charms Tour, the 4 singers are back with a new show: DITO! In it, they sing about what connects people: small embarrassments, for example, that have already happened to all of us. And that still feel like the end of the world for a moment and are the basis for nights of pondering. VIVA VOCE also brings in this show, in one of their famous medleys, the biggest hits of the a cappella world.

Let yourself be embraced for an evening by the incomparable voices of VIVA VOCE. Precise, brilliant, and always with a little twinkle in their eyes, the 4 guys guarantee an evening that will resonate in the hearts of the audience for a long time.

Friends of Egerländer and Bohemian brass music, pay attention!

Hardly any brass music is as well known as the Bohemian. The unmistakable sound embodies Bohemian way of life and Egerländer tradition. The sophisticated music pieces indulge in boundless joy of life, but also convey melancholy and nostalgia for the lost homeland.

The Golden Egerländer is a true insider tip. Since its foundation, the passionate musicians have been filling halls and concert halls all over Germany. This is particularly due to the enormous quality of the orchestra and their music. It's no wonder that the professional musicians have played or are playing nationwide in military or police orchestras, such as the Bands of the German Armed Forces, the Berlin Federal Police Orchestra, and the former Berlin Air Force Band.

Since October 2022, the Golden Egerländer have been led by Edi Sagert, former musician with Ernst Mosch and former conductor of the Original Kapelle Egerland.

With their entertaining, authentic and temperamental style, but also with a lot of feeling, the orchestra shapes their stage performances, of course, in their original Egerländer attire.

Just as the motto of "Favorite melodies from the Egerland" suggests, the focus of the musical performances is on the interpretation of the most beautiful Egerländer sounds, including those from ERNST MOSCH and his Original Egerländer Musikanten. When, for example, the "Rauschenden Birken" resounds, the audience sings along to "Wir sind Kinder von der Eger," or when the "Böhmische Wind" blows softly through the concert hall, every friend of Egerländer brass music gets their money's worth.

Experience a unique concert highlight at the highest level - Fine Egerländer brass music!

THE SHOW TO THE BOOK

40 years ON AIR! In radio and television of the GDR and in united Germany.
On TV and as a sought-after morning man at various radio stations. As a moderator and program director, he has been ON AIR! since his youth to entertain his listeners and viewers. Now the media personality talks about his path to popularity before the turnaround, about the time when everything changed for everyone in his homeland, and the fresh start in a united Germany.

As usual, relaxed and entertaining like in his shows, he shares anecdotes from his life in the spotlight, provides entertaining insights behind the scenes, and reflects on himself and the respective circumstances critically.

Many excerpts from his shows and previously unpublished photos.

Watch, Listen, Laugh - more than just a reading: The SHOW to the BOOK.

Entrance: 5:00 PM

Joli is a girl of just 8 years and she loves to help out in her parents' bakery, because she loves baking more than anything. Unfortunately, the bakery of her parents is not doing so well anymore, as people prefer to shop in supermarkets. Besides, it seems that no one except Joli notices that sweets and treats keep disappearing from the bakery. Joli is determined to find out who the thief is and unexpectedly meets the little dragon Floppi. Floppi is a young and very lively dragon who loves sweets above all else. The two quickly become friends and Joli discovers that Floppi is a true master baker. Will these new friends be able to save the bakery?
Play with music by Boris Weber

Joli is a girl of just 8 years and she loves to help out in her parents' bakery, because she loves baking more than anything. Unfortunately, the bakery of her parents is not doing so well anymore, as people prefer to shop in supermarkets. Besides, it seems that no one except Joli notices that sweets and treats keep disappearing from the bakery. Joli is determined to find out who the thief is and unexpectedly meets the little dragon Floppi. Floppi is a young and very lively dragon who loves sweets above all else. The two quickly become friends and Joli discovers that Floppi is a true master baker. Will these new friends be able to save the bakery?
Play with music by Boris Weber