Nordic Route
The Nordic Route connects unique historic theatres in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. In the beginning of Nordic theatre history, kings and queens played an important part. Thus our journey starts just outside Stockholm, at Drottningholm Court Theatre (1766), built at the request of Queen Lovisa Ulrika and still completely preserved today. Not far away, in Solna, we find Ulriksdal Palace and Confidencen, a royal theatre inaugurated already in 1753, also at the request of the queen. Her son, King Gustaf III, founded the National Opera, the National Dramatic Theatre and the Royal Academy of Music in order to foster plays, operas and performances in the Swedish language. His very own private theatre (1785) is part of Gripsholm Palace and preserved entirely. When the king was murdered in 1792 at a masked ball in the Stockholm opera house, all three palace theatres were closed and remained so for more than 100 years.
Travelling west along the lakes and through the forests of Sweden and crossing the border into Norway, we arrive in the city of Halden, not far from Oslo. Fredrikshald Theatre (1838) houses Norway’s best preserved historic stage, original stage sets and props. Originally built by a local theatre group and the city, it was carefully restored in 1982.
Taking a ferry, we go to Denmark and to Aarhus, where we find Elsinore Theatre (1817) which was moved here from Hamlet’s hometown in 1961. Financed by the townspeople, it gives us a clear Picture of Danish middle class public life in this period.
In Copenhagen, the Danish king had his Court Theatre built in 1767. Remodelled by a successor in the mid-19th century, it is today the home of the national Theatre Museum.
From Denmark, the Oresund Bridge takes us into the south of Sweden and to the theatre in Ystad, built 1893-94 in neoclassicist style. Ystad Theatre was one of the last theatres in Europe to be equipped with a “baroque” stage machinery; for the 100th anniversary this was restored to working conditions. Ystad Theatre also holds a unique collection of original stage sets made by C.L. Grabow, a famous set designer who worked for many Nordic theatres.
Take a ferry from here via the island of Bornholm to the island of Ruegen and continue on the German Route…
The Nordic Route presents:
Confidencen - Ulriksdal Palace Theatre
Gripsholm Palace Theatre
Fredrikshald Theater
Helsingør Theatre
Theatre Museum at the Court Theatre
Ystads Theater
The European Route of Historic Theatres
Theatre has been a corner stone of European culture for over 2500 years. The buildings created for this art mirror our history. They can be found everywhere in Europe. Together they form a very special part of our common European heritage.
The “European Route of Historic Theatres” was initiated in 2007. It proved to be an excellent idea for travellers and theatres alike, and the European Commission agreed to support its extension to all of Europe until 2017.
Every six months, a new part of the European Route will open, until the European Route will be complete in 2016. It consists of 12 part routes, each comprising about 10 theatres, so that one can easily travel along any part route in a week (or see two or three theatres during a week-end trip).
The part routes of the European Route of Historic Theatres are:
- Iberia Route (Spain, Portugal)
- French Route
- Channel Route (Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium)
- German Route
- Nordic Route (Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
- Baltic Route (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia)
- Black Sea Route (Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece)
- Adriatic Route (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia)
- Emperor Route (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary)
- Alpine Route (Southern Germany, Switzerland, Northern Italy)
- Italian Route I + II
As of autumn 2013, five part routes are already operating: the Nordic Route, the Channel Route, the German Route, the Emperor Route and the Italian Route I in northern Italy. In the following years, we are planning to open the next routes like this (subject to change):
Opening 2014: Adriatic Route and French Route
Opening 2015: Baltic Route and Iberia Route
Opening 2016: Alpine Route and Black Sea Route
More information: www.europeanroute.info