Court Theater

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the inauguration of the Darmstadt Court Theatre designed by Georg Moller, the Digital Design Unit created a virtual reconstruction of the building destroyed in World War II. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Hessisches Landesarchiv – Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, which together with three other public archives holds its office in the building, that has been rebuilt from the outside. In 1871, a fire destroyed the entire interior of the Court Theatre. However, the theatre, which had burned down to the surrounding wall, was reopened in 1879. 25 years later, the theatre was extensively rebuilt and remained so until 1944. The virtual reconstruction focuses on the building from 1879. It is embedded in a film that focuses on the entire construction history of the theatre using contemporary illustrations and photographs. A virtual reality application also makes it possible to experience the space in its former splendor and dimension in an almost sensual and physical way. The Hessisches Landesarchiv – Hessian State Archive is testing new innovative forms of archival public relations and historical education work. A set of large-format laminated copies of original sources, which form the basis of the reconstruction and are part of the archive's holdings, and mobile VR glasses, which will be made available to interested visitors to the archive, is planned. This will make it possible to compare sources and reconstruction and to see the reconstruction process.