Redoute

Before the Redoute received its present name in 1997, the building was known as the "House of Officers" of the Red Army. Built in 1974, it housed the commanders of the 8th Guard Army stationed in Nohra near Weimar and was used as a cultural centre, theatre, meeting place and restaurant.

At the beginning of the 90s, the last groups of the Soviet armed forces from all over Thuringia were bid farewell. The House of Officers thus lost its original purpose and stood empty from 1993 to 1994. It was only with Peter Stein's three-hour performance of the "Orestie" that it was brought back to life. About 20 years ago, for the symbolic price of one Mark, the state of Thuringia transferred the "House of Officers" to the city of Weimar. The city of Weimar handed over the site to two engineering companies, which then created a rehearsal stage and workshops for the Weimar Theatre. 

In 1997 this rehearsal stage was already used as an interim venue for the DNT. The house on Ettersburger Strasse was to be given a new name. Citizens of the city could influence the naming with their ideas. "Nordbühne", "Theater Intermezzo", "Z(w)eitraum" or "Archetyp" did not prevail. The winner of this competition was Reiner Buchholz. His proposal was reminiscent of the first alternative venue of Weimar theatre art: the Redoutenhaus, which was built by Anton Georg Hauptmann in 1775 in the former Esplanade and which enriched the cultural scene in Weimar with numerous masked balls (so-called "Redouten"). 

On 19 July 1997 the newly named "Redoute" was opened with the premiere of "Cyrano von Bergerac". On this day, the then General Director Günther Beelitz also unveiled a copy of the Goethe Schiller monument at the same place where a bust of Lenin by Friedrich Rogge had been enthroned about 18 years earlier. As "Protectors, Preservers and Guardians of the Grail", the poet duo was to assist the theatre ensemble in front of the Redoute. In September of the same year, the DNT employees and their guests celebrated the move to the Redoute with a colourful theatre festival and a parade from Theaterplatz. In the following two years, plays such as "King Oedipus", "The Beautiful Helena" and "Don Giovanni" premiered. The dance theatre under the direction of Ismael Ivo was also represented in the Redoute with productions such as "Fremd im eigenen Körper" and "Delirium of a childhood". 

19 years after the first move, the Redoute was an interim venue from April to September 2016 during the reconstruction work on the orchestra pit in the Great House.