German Theatre in Slovenia

Sandra Jenko

The paper deals with the theatre activity of the German population in Slovenia, especially in Ljubljana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The behind-the-scenes look into German stages will show how these theatres functioned, who maintained them, which actors performed on their boards and the demographics of their audiences. We will discuss the theatre life in the former Carniola region from the perspective of the social-political influences on the theatre’s operation. These new conclusions about the theatre activities of Germans and their cessation in 1919 are a result of research carried out on comprehensive archival sources that, until now, have not been subject to detailed academic reflection and presented to the wider public.

Sandra Jenko (b. 1980 in Germany) studied theatre, film and media at the University of Vienna and obtained her master’s degree in 2006. She has focused her research activity on the history of German theatre in Slovenia. In 2013 she published the book Jubilejno gledališče cesarja Franca Jožefa v Ljubljani [The Jubilee Theatre of Emperor Franz Joseph in Ljubljana]. During her studies, she dedicated special attention to furthering her skills and experience in the field of theatre pedagogy. Since 2013 she has been employed in the project Dostopnost do kulturne dediščine ranljivim skupinam (Accessibility of Cultural Heritage to Vulnerable Groups) and engaged as a curator/educator at the Slovenian Theatre Institute, where she oversees the cultural-artistic education programme and visitor services.