View source for Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e.V.

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The '''Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e. V.''' is an amateur theatre association in [[wikipedia:Gerolstein|Gerolstein]] in the [[wikipedia:Vulkaneifel|Vulkaneifel district]], [[wikipedia:Rhineland-Palatinate|Rhineland-Palatinate]], Germany. It grew out of a community history play staged for the town's 650th anniversary in 1986 and became an association in 1993. Its home stage is the ruin of the Löwenburg castle above Gerolstein, where it stages open-air productions, usually every second year.<ref name="historie" /><ref name="about" />

== History ==
At the end of 1984 the town of Gerolstein called on its citizens to stage a new production of ''Der Speerwurf'', a local play based on a Gerolstein legend, for the town's 650th anniversary in 1986. After a first meeting in March 1985, the history play by Klaus Marck was performed in the open air in the Löwenburg ruin from May to September 1986, with about 80 participants including an orchestra and ballet. Following its success, the actors formed an amateur group under the umbrella of the Gerolstein adult education centre in autumn 1986. Productions of [[wikipedia:Heinrich Spoerl|Heinrich Spoerl]]'s ''Der Maulkorb'' (1987) and ''[[wikipedia:Die Feuerzangenbowle|Die Feuerzangenbowle]]'' (1990) followed, and on 1 July 1991 the group joined the [[Bund Deutscher Amateurtheater (BDAT)]].<ref name="historie" />

The association ''Burgschauspieler Gerolstein'' was founded on 8 July 1993 to promote amateur theatre for children, young people and adults as well as local customs and the preservation of monuments. While the Löwenburg was being restored, it staged [[wikipedia:Hugo von Hofmannsthal|Hugo von Hofmannsthal]]'s ''[[wikipedia:Jedermann (play)|Jedermann]]'' (1994) and [[wikipedia:Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]]'s ''[[wikipedia:William Tell (play)|Wilhelm Tell]]'' (1996, with about 110 participants) in the courtyard of the Gerolstein secondary school. In 2000, after members had spent about 300 hours of voluntary work making the ruin playable again, it returned to the Löwenburg with ''Der Speerwurf'', followed in 2003 by [[wikipedia:Carl Zuckmayer|Carl Zuckmayer]]'s ''Der Schinderhannes'' in a version revised by Karl-Heinz Schwartz.<ref name="historie" />

== Venue ==
The Löwenburg is the ruin of the residence of the counts of Gerolstein, destroyed in 1691. The open-air stage, first laid out in 1953, lies in the outer bailey, sheltered by a shield wall about 35 metres long and 11 metres high.<ref name="loewenburg" /> The association calls the castle its "home and great love", to which it has always returned after playing elsewhere.<ref name="about" />

== Other activities ==
The association has represented the district at several Rhineland-Palatinate state days, taken part in historical parades in Gerolstein and [[wikipedia:Prüm|Prüm]], and in the late 1990s had its children's group sing and recite at the Gerolstein Christmas market.<ref name="historie" />

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="historie">[https://www.burgschauspieler.de/historie/ Chronik der Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e.V.], Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e.V., retrieved 14 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260611013139/https://www.burgschauspieler.de/historie/ Archived] on 11 June 2026.</ref>
<ref name="about">[https://www.burgschauspieler.de/wir-%C3%BCber-uns/ Wir über uns], Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e.V., retrieved 14 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260611003706/https://www.burgschauspieler.de/wir-%C3%BCber-uns/ Archived] on 11 June 2026.</ref>
<ref name="loewenburg">[https://www.burgschauspieler.de/die-l%C3%B6wenburg/ Die Löwenburg], Burgschauspieler Gerolstein e.V., retrieved 14 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260611011817/https://www.burgschauspieler.de/die-l%C3%B6wenburg/ Archived] on 11 June 2026.</ref>
</references>