View source for Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger

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The '''Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger e. V.''', known as the '''Roßstall''', is a community association in [[wikipedia:Germering|Germering]] in the [[wikipedia:Fürstenfeldbruck (district)|district of Fürstenfeldbruck]], [[wikipedia:Upper Bavaria|Upper Bavaria]], Germany, whose amateur company performs as the ''Theater im Roßstall'' in its own theatre house on the former Zengerlehof farm. According to the association, it is Germering's only theatre with its own building that operates without subsidies, and its performances have been almost always sold out for some 30 years.<ref name="historie" />

== History ==
The association began in 1975 when residents of the Bärenweg rented a hobby cellar to get to know each other. As the ''Bärenclub – Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger'' it had 55 members by 1977, when it was entered in the register of associations; among its activities was a lay theatre group under Ralph Ott. In 1979 the club leased a dilapidated horse stable at the Zengerlehof on Augsburger Straße and, after 2,500 hours of volunteer work, opened it as the ''Kleiner Roßstall'' clubhouse on 5 June 1980. From April 1983 to October 1984 members converted the barn and coach house into a theatre, the ''Roßstall-Stadl''; the association now owns the property.<ref name="verein" />

Ralph Ott founded the theatre group in 1977 and decided from the outset not to play dialect theatre. Its first performance was Ott's own ''Wer denkt schon an Bethlehem'' in a private cellar, and the group first appeared before a wider public with the [[wikipedia:Mystery play|mystery play]] ''Zum Erwachen Blumen'' in the old village church of St. Martin during the first Germering cultural days. For several years it performed mainly plays written by Ott, such as the satire ''Nachtspinnen'', with which the theatre era in the large hall began, ''Der Riss'' (1986) and ''Der Johannisbrunnen'' (1988). In April 1986 it staged its first play by an established playwright, Felix Mitterer's ''Kein Platz für Idioten'', which drew 2,730 spectators over 21 performances, followed from 1988 by comedies and dramas such as [[wikipedia:Peter Ustinov|Peter Ustinov]]'s ''Halb auf dem Baum'', ''[[wikipedia:Extremities (play)|Extremities]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Of Mice and Men|Von Mäusen und Menschen]]''. Ott directed for the last time in 2005, Robert Thomas's ''Die Falle'', and died in January 2006.<ref name="historie" />

After Ott's death, productions were directed by guests such as Günther Fleckenstein and Stefan Pirzer and by members including Willi Hörmann, Gabi Lodermeier and, from 2009, Cecilia Gagliardi. Productions in these years included Chekhov's ''Der Bär'' and ''Der Heiratsantrag'' and ''[[wikipedia:The Taming of the Shrew|Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung]]'' (2007), [[wikipedia:Patrick Süskind|Patrick Süskind]]'s ''Der Kontrabass'' (2008), Molière's ''Der eingebildete Kranke'' (2008), Gogol's ''Der Revisor'' (2009) and ''Gretchen 89ff'' (2013).<ref name="historie" /> In autumn 2026 the theatre presented ''Geistreich'' and a crime-dinner production, ''Dinner for Death''.<ref name="home" />

== Organisation ==
Besides the theatre, the association runs a choir and community activities; the theatre receives no subsidies and is financed from ticket sales and membership fees.<ref name="verein" />

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="historie">[https://germeringer-rossstall.de/theater-historie/ Theater – Historie], Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260510031406/https://germeringer-rossstall.de/theater-historie/ Archived] on 10 May 2026.</ref>
<ref name="verein">[https://germeringer-rossstall.de/verein/ Verein – Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger e. V.], Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260423032905/https://germeringer-rossstall.de/verein/ Archived] on 23 April 2026.</ref>
<ref name="home">[https://germeringer-rossstall.de/ Roßstall – Aktuelles], Freundeskreis Germeringer Bürger e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260617162928/https://germeringer-rossstall.de/ Archived] on 17 June 2026.</ref>
</references>