page_title: Bernhard-Theater Zürich
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bernhard-Theater Zürich / History
caption_attribution_description: Utoquai, the Bernhard-Theater and the Opernhaus buildings in Zürich (Switzerland) as seen from Zürichsee-Schiffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) MS Helvetia on Zürichsee This is an image of a cultural property of national significance in Switzerland with KGS number 7862
context_page_description: The Bernhard-Theater Zürich or Bernhard Theater is a theatre in German-speaking Switzerland situated at Sechseläutenplatz in Zürich. It is part of the building complex Opernhaus Zürich and also houses the Restaurant Belcanto. The theater was founded by and named after Rudolf Bernhard in 1941.
context_section_description: The Bernhard-Theater is an entertainment theater that housed in its early years guest performances and productions (spoken theater and music theater), initially having an own ensemble to establish a new workplace for the entertainment theater in Zürich. Rudolf Bernhard, a Swiss actor and comedian, founded at the former "Grand Café Esplanade" (built by J. Pfister Picault in 1925) the Rudolf-Bernhard-Theater which premierred on 19/20 December 1941. The ensemle performed farces and comedies in the Swiss German language. The ensemble comprised among others Ernst Bölsterli, Walburga Gmür, Bernard's wife Lisa Lienbach, Peter W. Staub and Willi Stettner; as guests appeared Heinrich Gretler, Emil Hegetschweiler, Alfred Rasser, Schaggi Streuli and Fredy Scheim. From the late 1940s, at the beginning of the season the ensemble went on tour in Switzerland, while the parent company held guest performances.
  In 1961/63 it also housed the Zürcher Märchenbühne which annually produces a fairy tale for children during the winter months, starring among others Vincenzo Biagi, Paul Bühlmann, Inigo Gallo, Walter Andreas Müller, Bella Neri, Margrit Rainer, Jörg Schneider, Peter W. Staub, Schaggi Streuli, Ines Torelli, Erich Vock and Ruedi Walter.
  After the death of Bernhard in 1962 his widow handed over the management of the theater to the brothers Eynar and Vincent Grabowsky, resulting in a gradual diversification of the board: for one thing established Swiss German language (dialect) comedies and revues and dialect adaptations of farces (among others by Jörg Schneider) starring Paul Bühlmann, Jörg Schneider, and "Bernhard-Littéraire".  Inigo Gallo, Ursula Schäppi, Ruedi Walter, Margrit Rainer, Ines Torelli, Erich Vock and others. On the other hand, the theater also played in-house productions or guest performances, musicals and operettas, and contrived chanson evenings, drag shows, as well as farces and boulevard theater with popular actors (Willy Millowitsch, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Horst Tappert) from Germany, and also children's and youth plays. In addition, Eynar Grabowsky initiated numerous thematic series like "Bernhard-Apéro"
  The Bernhard Theater was organized as an Aktiengesellschaft according to Swiss law in 1978. In May 1981 the Esplanade building was demolished, and the present building opened on 27/28 December 1984 after three years of transition in the Kaufleuten building nearby Schanzengraben respectively the Old Botanical Garden. The theater received no subsidies by the municipal government, and funded primarily through the sale of tickets, consummations by the visitors and guest performances. In December 1995 Eynar Grabowsky committed suicide and the company was indebted with several millions Swiss Francs. As a result, following lengthy disputes between director, the various boards of directors and other stakeholders, the theater's rental agreement was terminated by the Opernhaus company, initially at the end of 1998 and compounded to the end of July 2000. Vincent Grabowsky was replaced by his sister Bernadette Czerwenka-Grabowsky at the end of 1998, and after failed restructuring proceedings in January 1999 the Bernhard-Theater AG went bankrupt. Supported by Czerwenka-Grabowsky, a collecting society of the former Grabowsky squad people failed in July 2000. For the season 2000/01 the board elected a new director, but finally he also failed to establish the new labelled "Komödie am Bellevue" as a comedy house for upscale boulevard productions, due to financial difficulties by the end of July 2002. The presidential department (Präsidialdepartement) of the city of Zürich and the Opernhaus parent company elected two new managing directors and an artistic advisory panel for the 2003/04 season as a new beginning. It focused to a younger audience with productions, guest performances and new event formats (shows with celebrity presenters), but also successful Bernhard productions (Bernhard-Littéraire) and farces and comedies of Hans Gmür and Charles Lewinsky starring popular actors like Vock and Walter Andreas Müller. Despite consid
caption: Opernhaus, Bernhard-Theater, Belcanto and Utoquai, as seen from Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) ship MS Helvetia
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