The Schauspielhaus Zürich is as a joint-stock company under Swiss private law. The main shareholders are the City and Canton of Zurich. Further information on the shareholders and the Annual General Meeting, as well as links to the Annual Reports, can be found further down.
The Board of Directors consists of nine members: four are elected by the general meeting and five are appointed by the city and canton. The Schauspielhaus Zürich is managed by an Executive Management of five members.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Pınar Karabulut & Rafael Sanchez, Co-Artistic Directors
Jannike Bartkowiak, Director of Artistic Operations
Peter Hüttenmoser, Director of Finance and Administration
Dirk Wauschkuhn, Technical Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Beate Eckhardt
Co-Chair since 2023 (joined in 2020)
Stefan Mühlemann
Co-Chair since 2025 (joined in 2021)
Prof. Dr Ursula Amrein
appointed by the canton of Zurich (joined in 2011)
Rebekka Fässler
appointed by the city of Zurich (joined in 2021)
Alexandros Ioannidis
appointed by the City of Zurich as staff representative (joined in 2022)
Patrick Middendorf (joined in 2026)
Seraina Rohrer
appointed by the Canton of Zurich (joined in 2024)
David Schärer
appointed by the City of Zurich (joined in 2025)
Allegra Sosso
Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee (joined in 2026)
JOINT-STOCK COMPANY
The Schauspielhaus Zürich AG has around 550 shareholders, who collectively own 3,000 shares, with a share capital of CHF 1,500,000. The main shareholders are the City and Canton of Zurich.
Further information about Schauspielhaus Zürich AG can be found the Articles of Association.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The financial year runs from 1 August to 31 July. The annual general meeting is held at the end of January the following year.
The next AGM will take place on 26 January 2027 at the Schiffbau.
Shares
BECOME A SHAREHOLDER
As a shareholder in Switzerland’s leading theatre for spoken drama, you will have the opportunity to support our institution and gain a deeper insight into the company at the annual general meeting. You will also be able to participate in the development of the Schauspielhaus Zürich and exchange ideas with the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Management, as well as with other shareholders at the subsequent shareholder reception.
The Schauspielhaus Zürich AG is not listed on the stock exchange and does not distribute dividends to shareholders. However, as a shareholder, you will receive one complimentary ticket per season to see a performance from our repertoire.
In addition, as a shareholder, you receive an invitation every spring to the season preview presentation. This is where you will be the first to find out which productions will be included in the programme for the coming season.
TRANSFERRING SHARES
If your circumstances have changed and you would like to transfer your shares in the Schauspielhaus, please contact us and we will be happy to help. We maintain a waiting list of people looking to become shareholders and can put sellers in touch with potential buyers.
OVER-THE-COUNTER TRADING
The private bank Lienhardt & Partner also facilitates the over-the-counter trading of the Schauspielhaus Zürich’s shares. If you hold a securities account, you can buy or sell shares directly through the bank. You can find further information here.
CONTACT US
Laura Steiner
Zeltweg 5
8032 Zürich
Annual Reports
The annual reports from previous years, including reviews of the respective seasons and key financial figures, can be found here (only in German).
Annual report 2023/24
Annual report 2022/23
Annual report 2020/21
Annual report 2019/20
Previous annual reports
Download Geschäftsbericht 2018/19
Download Geschäftsbericht 2017/18
Download Geschäftsbericht 2016/17
Download Geschäftsbericht 2015/16
Download Geschäftsbericht 2014/15
Download Geschäftsbericht 2013/14
Download Geschäftsbericht 2012/13
Download Geschäftsbericht 2011/12
Download Geschäftsbericht 2010/11
Download Geschäftsbericht 2009/10
Download Geschäftsbericht 2007/08
Download Geschäftsbericht 2006/07
Download Geschäftsbericht 2005/06
Download Geschäftsbericht 2004/05
Download Geschäftsbericht 2003/04
Download Geschäftsbericht 2002/03
Download Geschäftsbericht 2001/02
History
In 1888/89, the “Volkstheater am Pfauen” was built on the current site (the name of the adjacent pub was “Zum Pfauen”), and in 1901 the building was reopened as a playhouse with Goethe's “Mitschuldigen”. The Schauspielhaus remained a private theater until 1938, when it was upgraded artistically by emigrants from Nazi Germany such as Leopold Lindtberg and Therese Giehse and the “Neue Schauspiel AG” was founded. This is where the glorious history of the Schauspielhaus begins: Under the direction of Oskar Wälterlin, some of Bertolt Brecht's most important plays had their world premiere, and after 1945, numerous plays by Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt were premiered at the Pfauen. Incisive authors and directors as well as outstanding actors still characterize the artistic image of the theatre today.
Nobody will believe it: Switzerland's most important spoken theater, the Schauspielhaus Zürich, was a private theater until 1938. Its director and owner, Ferdinand Rieser, put the theater up for sale that same year because he wanted to emigrate to the USA. A one-off campaign was launched to save it and its ensemble from certain destruction. On the initiative of the publisher Emil Oprecht, the dramaturge Kurt Hirschfeld and with the courageous support of the then Social Democratic mayor Emil Klöti, the “Neue Schauspiel AG” was founded. “It was a foundation of social democracy with the capital of liberal citizens,” wrote Peter Löffler, director of the Schauspielhaus in the 1969/70 season.
1892-1933
But back to the beginnings of this theater. In 1892, innkeeper Heinrich Hürlimann had the first permanent theater with a domed building and small stage built on the site of today's Schauspielhaus: The “Volkstheater am Pfauen”. In this building, the outer outlines of which are still preserved today, the audience was seated at long tables during performances. “Berlin farces” and frivolous “Parisian farces” were on the program, as were snake dancers and fakirs: a temple of amusement in the Zurich suburbs.
In 1901, the then director of the opera house, Alfred Reucker, rented the “Volkstheater am Pfauen” to create a venue for the spoken theater. He cleared out the beer tables and wobbly chairs and opened the house with Goethe's “Mitschuldigen”. At first, the audience was by no means friendly to the new, demanding repertoire, but the director nevertheless dared to engage a permanent ensemble for the first time. It is to his credit that this theater, whose architecture was actually unsuitable for modern drama, developed more and more charisma. Nevertheless, both the ensemble and its director were dismissed in 1920 as the deficits increased. After his successor, Ferdinand Rieser, bought the Schauspielhaus and extensively renovated it in 1926, he implemented a contemporary repertoire despite numerous hostilities from the audience - and he was successful. Internationally, however, the Zurich theater was hardly recognized until 1933.
1933-1961
The situation changed fundamentally when Hitler came to power. Many emigrants, actors and actresses from Germany, were taken into the ensemble by Rieser, all of them explicit opponents of National Socialism, they were Jews and/or politically radical leftists. Not all the famous actors and directors who worked in Zurich at the time - and in some cases until 1945 - can be named here: Therese Giehse, Grete Heger, Albert Bassermann, Ernst Ginsberg, Wolfgang Langhoff, Kurt Horwitz, Leonard Steckel, Leopold Lindtberg and many others. In addition to classics, Rieser performed numerous contemporary plays in his theater and premiered works by such renowned authors as Else Lasker-Schüler, Ödön von Horváth, Ferdinand Bruckner, Georg Kaiser and Friedrich Wolf. It was a critical, sometimes militant repertoire with an explicitly anti-fascist thrust. The “frontists” in Switzerland, who adopted Hitler's ideology of anti-Semitism and nationalism, unleashed a real cultural war against the Schauspielhaus. Their combat units did not shy away from violent actions, so that certain performances could only take place under police protection.
It was not only the looming bankruptcy but also this daily threat that led Ferdinand Rieser to decide to sell his theater in 1938. This year was of existential importance for the continued existence of the Schauspielhaus. And without the courage
1961-today
For the first time in its history, the Zurich Schauspielhaus under its director Christoph Marthaler was voted “Theater of the Year” in 2002 and 2003. And since September 2000 - Marthaler's start as artistic director - this theater has had three stages that could not be more different. On the one hand, the traditional Haus am Pfauen and, on the other, two flexible theater spaces - the Schiffbauhalle and the Box im Schiffbau - which have become known throughout Europe in the short time of their existence. Numerous invitations to the Berlin Theatertreffen - between 2003 and 2009 this included productions by Christoph Marthaler, Stefan Pucher, Frank Castorf, Johan Simons, Jan Bosse and Jürgen Gosch - also speak for themselves. After Marthaler's politically sensational departure, the house was managed by Andreas Spillmann in the 2004/05 season and by Artistic Director Matthias Hartmann from the 2005 to 2009 season. From the 2009/2010 season to 2018/2019, Barbara Frey was the first female artistic director of the Schauspielhaus Zürich. Since the 2019/2020 season, Benjamin von Blomberg and Nicolas Stemann have taken up the directorship of the Schauspielhaus.
Author: Bruno Hitz, former dramaturge of the Schauspielhaus
Artistic directors
1938–1961
OSKAR WÄLTERLIN
1961–1965
KURT HIRSCHFELD
1965–1968
LEOPOLD LINDTBERG
1968/69
TEO OTTO, ERWIN PARKER, OTTO WEISSERT
1969/70
PETER LÖFFLER
1970–1977
HARRY BUCKWITZ
1978–1982
GERHARD KLINGENBERG
1982–1989
GERD HEINZ
1989–1992
ACHIM BENNING
1992–1999
GERD LEO KUCK
1999/2000
REINHARD PALM
2000–2004
CHRISTOPH MARTHALER
2004/05
ANDREAS SPILLMANN
2005–2009
MATTHIAS HARTMANN
2009-2019
BARBARA FREY
2019-2024
BENJAMIN VON BLOMBERG UND NICOLAS STEMANN
2024-2025
ULRICH KHUON
