Barocktheater im Benediktinerstift Lambach

Singspiele on Sunday afternoon Theater and performing arts have always played an important role in the Benedictine order. Initially, the spiritual texts of Sunday masses were conveyed again in the afternoon in the form of a Singspiel (musical play). Soon, ancient and secular themes mixed into the monastic repertoires. Reopening for Marie Antoinette The current theater on the second floor dates from the time of Abbot Amandus Schickmayr. In 1769, he had "the Theatrum put in better condition" and on March 29, 1770, Johann Wenzel Turetschek began "painting the Theatrum." It had to be finished in just under a month, because it was opened on April 23, 1770. The poet-monk Father Maurus Lindemayr wrote the play "Der kurzweilige Hochzeitsvertrag" for it. The occasion was Marie Antoinette of Austria-Lorraine (1755-1793), daughter of Maria Theresia, who had taken quarters in Lambach on her bridal journey to France. Continuous theater operation since 2003 The "Theaterverein Barocktheater Lambach" (Baroque Theater Lambach Theater Association) has been regularly using the space again since 2003 in Austria's only preserved baroque monastery theater.