Hamburg becomes a musical metropolis

With its harbor, its maritime flair and its cultural diversity, Hamburg offers many reasons for a visit. Nevertheless, it is often the musicals that attract visitors to the Hanseatic city. After New York and London, Hamburg is the third largest musical city in the world and the largest in Germany. In addition to the five large stages with their world-famous shows, local productions performed on smaller stages also attract visitors.

As early as the 19th century, numerous theaters and operetta houses were built on Hamburg's Reeperbahn, which accustomed the people of Hamburg to regular visits to operettas, musical comedies and the early forms of musicals. These included the "Circus Gymnasticus" theater, designed on the Viennese model, which opened in 1841.

The Circus Gymnasticus was renamed "Central-Halle" in 1864 and finally converted into a musical stage in 1985. Under the name "Operettenhaus" the musical "Cats" by Andrew Lloyd Webber was premiered in 1986. Until 2001, 6.2 million spectators visited the musical, which for the first time earned Hamburg the reputation of being the musical capital.

Cats" was produced by Friedrich Kurz, who was inspired by American musicals and founded the company "Stella Entertainment" a short time later. In 1988, Kurz wanted to build on the success of the Operettenhaus and build another musical theater in Sternschanze. At that time, he could not have guessed how much his plan would not become a reality.

The residents did not want to have a musical theater in their neighborhood. Kurz had chosen a dilapidated theater building for his plans, in which the theater was closed down in 1963. After that, the former theater was used as a department store. To prevent the conversion, autonomists occupied the building now known as the Rote Flora - with success.

Instead, Kurz built his new musical theater nearby, and the Neue Flora opened in 1990. Here, too, residents had demonstrated and complained against the construction, but they were unable to prevent it. With the "Phantom of the Opera", one of the most successful musicals of all time came to the Neue Flora in the same year. The more than 50 international awards the musical received speak for themselves.

In 1994, Friedrich Kurz landed the next coup with Stella Entertainment and built the musical at the harbor. Until 2001, the musical "Buddy" was a guest here. Unfortunately, the company went downhill during this time, which was due on the one hand to some momentous decisions by Kurz, and on the other hand to the arrival of a strong musical competitor in Hamburg: the Dutch "Stage Entertainment".

Before Stella Entertainment had to file for insolvency in 2002, the company sold the musical at the harbor to Stage Entertainment in 2001. From then on, the musical for which Hamburg is still known today was on the program: Disney's THE LION KING.

The general musical slump at the turn of the millennium probably also contributed to the insolvency of Stella Entertainment. But "THE KING OF THE LIONS" lit a new musical fire with its exciting costumes and stage sets, moving story and songs by Elton John. Since its premiere, more than 13 million spectators have seen the musical in Hamburg.

After the insolvency of the most important musical provider until then, Stage Entertainment also bought the Operettenhaus and the Neue Flora, thus securing musical supremacy in Hamburg to this day.

On the musical wave triggered by "Disney THE LION KING", numerous hits such as "Sister Act", "Tarzan", "Dirty Dancing", "MAMMA MIA", "WICKED" and most recently "Disney's FROZEN" and "& JULIA" came to Hamburg. Since the premiere of "Cats", Hamburg has enchanted over 50 million spectators with its musicals.

But even away from the big stages, the musical metropolis of Hamburg has a lot to offer. Since 2016, trainees and graduates of the Stage School Hamburg have been able to gain their first experience on stage at the First Stage Theater. The theater is also known for its unconventional performances.

Also important for the Hamburg musical scene are the Mehr! Theater in the former Grossmarkthalle and Schmidts TIVOLI on the Reeperbahn. The iconic musical "Heiße Ecke" has been performed here since 2003. The production is the most successful German-language musical. It has been seen by 2.5 million people so far and celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023.

The shrillest neighborhood of the city is played in the cult musical "Heiße Ecke" at Schmidts Tivoli. Quick-witted spoken passages, a fast-paced show with tear-jerking moments and great songs to sing along to - all in all, a rousing production that gets under your skin 100%. This is not to be missed: The "Hot Corner" is not only an insider tip, but also a landmark on the Reeperbahn.