The Rise Of Marionettes In Austria: A Cultural History

The marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings. The history of marionettes in Austria can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries when the country was one of Europe's great powers. During this time, puppeteers were mostly foreigners who set up temporary theatres in city squares, presenting string puppets and glove puppets. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre, founded in 1913, is a notable example of the country's rich marionette tradition.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre, founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher, is one of the oldest marionette theatres in the world. Aicher, born in 1859 in a small village in southern Styria, Austria, was a sculptor and teacher with a talent for carving. After graduating from the Vienna Academy of Art, he took up a teaching post for sculpture at the state vocational college in Salzburg. It was here that he dreamt of establishing a puppet theatre, inspired by the famous Munich Marionette Theatre of "Papa" Josef Leonhard Schmid.

Aicher's debut performance took place on 27 February 1913, with a production of Mozart's opera, 'Bastien and Bastienne'. The original production featured live actors and musicians, but today, soundtracks are recorded. The theatre was first housed in Aicher's studio in the Salzburg Künstlerhaus, and later moved to the gymnasium of the Borromaeum seminary, where it remained for 47 years.

Aicher's marionettes were only 20-30 cm tall, yet highly detailed and expressive, allowing the theatre to play a significant role in illusionist puppetry. Aicher also improved the technical operation of the marionettes by developing a new kind of operating cross, which is still used today. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre quickly gained popularity and expanded its repertoire to include small operas and Franz von Pocci's "Kasperl-Theater".

Under Aicher's leadership, the theatre company began touring abroad, starting in Hamburg, Germany, in 1927. They travelled to various countries, including the Balkan states, the Soviet Union, and Scandinavia. In 1937, the company was awarded the Gold Medal at the World's Fair in Paris, a testament to their artistic excellence.

During World War II, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre was instructed to perform in frontline areas, entertaining troops in German-occupied Norway, Poland, Russia, and Romania until operations ceased in 1944. After the war, the theatre resumed performances for occupying American, British, and French military forces.

In the following years, the company continued to tour extensively and began using recorded sound for performances instead of live actors and musicians. In 1952, they embarked on their first tour of the United States under a five-year contract, solidifying their presence on the international stage.

In 1971, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre acquired its own permanent theatre in the former ballroom of the Mirabell Hotel. Over the years, the company has continued to delight audiences of all ages with its unique blend of operas, ballets, and productions for both children and adults, becoming a beloved pillar of Salzburg's cultural life.

The theatre has been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List

Puppetry is an ancient form of performance, with evidence of its use in Egypt as early as 2000 BC. Marionettes, or string puppets, are a specific type of puppet that is controlled from above using wires or strings.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre in Austria was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher and continues to perform full-length operas using marionettes today. Aicher was heavily influenced by Count Franz Pocci, who founded the Munich Marionette Theatre in Germany in 1855.

The inclusion of puppetry on the list recognises its value as a form of cultural expression and its role in preserving and transmitting cultural diversity and creative expression. It also highlights the social and economic value of transmitting knowledge and skills through the art form, contributing to social cohesion and a sense of identity and continuity.

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, one of three lists compiled by the programme, includes cultural "practices and expressions [that] help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance." The Salzburg Marionette Theatre's unique performances certainly contribute to this diversity and help to raise awareness of the importance of puppetry as an art form.

The UNESCO list also includes other forms of puppetry and theatre from around the world, such as the Sicilian Puppet Theatre and the Japanese Wayang puppet theatre. By including puppetry on the list, UNESCO recognises its value as a global art form and helps to ensure its preservation for future generations.

The theatre's repertoire includes fairy tales and operas, including works by Mozart

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre in Austria was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher. The theatre's repertoire includes operas by Mozart, such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute, as well as a small number of ballets, including The Nutcracker. Mozart's operas comprise 22 musical dramas in a variety of genres, ranging from small-scale, derivative works of his youth to full-fledged operas of his maturity.

Mozart had an extraordinary capacity to seize and assimilate whatever was most useful to him in a newly encountered style. He used this gift to break new ground, becoming an "assimilator, perfector and innovator". His early works follow the traditional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera buffa, as well as the German Singspiel. In his maturity, Mozart enhanced all of these forms with the richness of his innovation.

Mozart's texts came from a variety of sources, and his early operas were often adaptations of existing works. The first librettist chosen by Mozart himself appears to have been Giambattista Varesco, for Idomeneo in 1781. Five years later, he began his most enduring collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Mozart's participation with Schikaneder's theatrical troupe increased with his contributions to the 1790 collaborative opera Der Stein der Weisen (The Philosopher's Stone), which can be considered a precursor to The Magic Flute.

The Magic Flute was Mozart's final opera and premiered on 30 September 1791, just two months before his death. It is an opera in two acts, with a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form at the time, which included both singing and spoken dialogue. The opera was an outstanding success from its first performances and remains a staple of opera to this day.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre continues the tradition of presenting full-length operas using marionettes in their own theatre.

The theatre's wooden cast of around 500 characters is supplied by its own workshops

Puppetry is an ancient form of performance, with evidence of marionettes being used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC. Marionettes are puppets controlled from above using wires or strings. The puppeteer, or marionettist, can be hidden or revealed to an audience, depending on the type of theatre.

In Austria, marionettes have certainly been popular. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher and continues to this day, performing mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute, as well as a small number of ballets. The theatre's wooden cast of around 500 characters is supplied by its own workshops, with the puppets, costumes, stage sets and technology crafted in collaboration with prominent directors, stage and costume designers. The puppets are usually around 60cm tall, with the marionettists giving life, grace and soul to the figures.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was influenced by the Munich Marionette Theatre, founded in 1855 by Count Franz Pocci. Aicher's granddaughter, Gretl Aicher, commented on her family's lasting interest in the art form:

> "What then is the fascination of a life with marionettes? Is it the pleasure of performing? The appeal of mastering an 'instrument' to the point of virtuosity? The transformation of one's own self? For me, it is the process of empathizing with mind and soul, of feeling at one with music and movement that bring these much-loved creatures to life."

The Schönbrunn Palace Marionette Theatre in Vienna has been continuing an old marionette play tradition since 1994. As early as 1777, Empress Maria Theresa hosted Prince Esterházy's puppet theatre at Schönbrunn Palace Theatre in honour of distinguished guests from Saxony. The Schönbrunn Palace Marionette Theatre's puppets are also crafted in their own workshops, with the marionettes, costumes, stage sets and technology all painstakingly handmade.

In the basement of Fortress Hohensalzburg, the Salzburg Marionette Museum exhibits many historical puppets from the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theatre. The museum is located in the dark, tunnel-like cellar of an 11th-century Austrian castle, with the puppets spread throughout a handful of rooms, frozen within scenes set inside glass cases. The museum also contains marionettes from around the world, some of which are hundreds of years old.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre for children features fairytales and popular children's characters

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre, established in 1913, is one of the oldest continuing marionette theatres in the world. It is based in the city of Salzburg, Austria, and has been enchanting audiences for over a century with its unique performances of fairy tales and operas. The theatre was founded by Professor Anton Aicher as the Aicher Family Theatre, and it has continued to delight both children and adults with its magical shows.

The marionettes are the true stars of the show, with puppeteers hidden two metres above them, guiding their movements with a special technique using 12 strings. This performance technique, declared a cultural asset worthy of preservation, showcases the "most highly developed form of puppet and figure theatre". The Salzburg Marionette Theatre takes pride in the craftsmanship of its wooden cast of around 500 characters, as well as the intricate costumes and sets that bring the performances to life.

The theatre's repertoire includes a variety of well-known fairytales and children's stories, such as 'The Nutcracker', 'The Magic Flute', and 'The Sound of Music'. These performances capture the imagination of children and transport them to magical worlds, making the Salzburg Marionette Theatre a beloved destination for families.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre has not only entertained generations of children but has also contributed to the cultural heritage of Austria, with its unique art form recognised by UNESCO.

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