For a hundred years now, the theater has been known as Berlin’s number one address for big show entertainment. Max Reinhardt performed in the arena of what was then the Circus Schumann for the first time back in 1910. At the time, it was still housed in the building at Am Zirkus 1 on Schiffbauerdamm, which was originally intended as a market hall. When Reinhardt established the precursor to the Palast known as the Großes Schauspielhaus on this site in 1919, he commissioned the modernist architect Hans Poelzig to design a magnificent theater.
From 1924, the newly-appointed artistic director, Erik Charell, created the revues that characterise the reputation and aesthetics of the “Golden Twenties” in Berlin to this day. In 1980, the old Palast had to be closed due to major subsidence and structural damage to the building. On 27 April 1984, the new Palast opened at Friedrichstraße 107 as the last major grand construction project of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
At Friedrichstraße 107, the glamourous revue tradition lives on. The biggest names in show business have graced the stage at this legendary theater. To name just a few: Shirley Bassey, Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, Udo Jürgens, Hildegard Knef and Liza Minnelli.
