page_title: Cuvilliés Theatre
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cuvilliés Theatre / History
caption_attribution_description: Inneres des Residenztheaters in München (Cuvilliés-Theater), evtl. Entwurf für eine Umgestaltung oder Neudekoration?, Gouache auf Karton. 43 x 54 cm.
context_page_description: The Cuvilliés Theatre or Old Residence Theatre is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
context_section_description: Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg. 1745–1777) commissioned the construction of a new theatre outside the palace after a fire in the St. George's Hall of the Residence which had served previously as a theatre room. The Residence Theatre was built from 1751 to 1753 by François de Cuvilliés in rococo style. The carving was done under supervision of Johann Baptist Straub.
  Due to limited space the National Theatre Munich was built next to the Residence Theatre from 1811. The interior decoration was then removed under King Ludwig I (reg. 1825–1848) when the building became a depot for the National Theatre, but the Residence Theatre was already restored and re-opened in 1857 under King Maximilian II (reg. 1848–1864).
  Originally the theatre was located where the present (New) Residence Theatre stands; after its destruction in World War II, the theatre was rebuilt in a wing of the Residence. Though the theatre was bombed during World War II, the carved and gilded boxes could be reused for they had been dismantled before and stored for security. Afterwards the Residenztheater was meticulously recreated in the 1950s and re-opened in 1958 under the name Cuvilliés Theatre with a performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. The theatre was again renovated and technically modernised from 2004–2008.
caption: Residence Theatre interior, 19th century
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