The demolition of the city walls and the backfilling of the trench in the 19th century created a large and valuable open space on the site where the moat once lay. An area where new public buildings have been built in line with the needs of the city – getting richer and further developed each day.
A monumental building of the Croatian National Theatre was built in Historicist style at the southern entrance to the city in 1873. The building was designed by the most famous Central European theatre designer, the Viennese architect Hermann Helmer, for whom this was the first theatre project. In many respects it could be argued that his later works reflect echoes of the Varaždin Theatre.
HNK Varaždin
The demolition of the city walls and the backfilling of the trench in the 19th century created a large and valuable open space on the site where the moat once lay. An area where new public buildings have been built in line with the needs of the city – getting richer and further developed each day.
A monumental building of the Croatian National Theatre was built in Historicist style at the southern entrance to the city in 1873. The building was designed by the most famous Central European theatre designer, the Viennese architect Hermann Helmer, for whom this was the first theatre project. In many respects it could be argued that his later works reflect echoes of the Varaždin Theatre.
HNK Varaždin
During the construction of the theatre, Mr. Helmer simply fell in love with Varaždin, and shortly afterwards took that love affair one step further by marrying one of its lovely inhabitants. Perhaps it is this love story that inspired the pleasant harmony of its exterior and splendour of the interior, giving away the designer’s great passion and love for life and art.
The first play performed in the new theatre was the play Poturica by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski that premiered on 25 September 1873 in the Croatian language. Nowadays, this may seem like a trivial fact, yet in the 19th century was deeply considered an act of courage.
Following more than a century of entertaining audiences, in 2014 the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin proudly acquired prestigious national status, held by only four other theatres in Croatia. Its current repertoire boasts a variety of plays, opera and music performances, and according to an unwritten rule, at least one play in the season is performed in the local Kajkavian dialect. During the summer months, the theatre stages ambient performances in various open spaces in Varaždin, such as the atrium of the Old Town or the courtyard of the Sermage Palace.
Varaždin Theatre as a building, but equally as an exceptional institution, is the pride of the people of Varaždin. Even those who are not attracted to theatrical art, still hold the theatre close to their hearts due to its great symbolic and cultural value.
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