Puccini Theatre
Martin Dülfer, who was educated in Munich and was one of the founders of the Jugendstil, was entrusted with the plan of the building in 1889. The inauguration of the theatre took place on the 1st of December of the following year, stirring up a wide approval both for its balanced combination of assorted forms and styles and for the profusion of marble embellishments and stuccoes. The theatre was dedicated to the composer Giacomo Puccini, who had been a guest in Meran.
At the peak of its splendour at the rise of the 20th century, the theatre company would put on up to 250 plays a year mostly popular operettas first and mainly operas later on. From the second half of the twenties the theatre ceased to have its own ensemble and eventually the necessary renovation works were not carried out.
During the second world war all performances were stopped until the fifties when they started again but only in German, staged by the “Südtiroler Landesbühne”. Hence only theatre companies from other cities would be on. Around the end of the sixties the building was damaged by a fire and was opened again only on November 28th 1978, after a profound renovation. The Puccini theatre has been hosting performances of Italian and German companies ever since, along with productions by localgroups of amateurs.
In the year 2000 the roof was renovated and the facade regained its original colour. On the first of December of the same year a solemn ceremony celebrated the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the theatre and many other exhibitions followed.