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Freilichtbühne Loreley

open-air theatre in St. Goarshausen, Germany

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ1454504 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Freilichtbühne Loreley (Loreley Open-Air Theatre) is an amphitheatre located on top of the Lorelei rock in St. Goarshausen, Germany. Designed by Hermann Senf, it was built between 1934 and 1939 as one of the Nazi Thingplätze and is one of the best known of these. It has been used continuously since World War II, initially mainly for theatrical performances and since 1976, mainly for rock concerts.

Third Reich

The arena was designed by Hermann Senf, who referred to the Loreley rock as a "kind of shrine". It is one of the best known of the Thingspielplätze, which were built by the Nazi regime for cultural events.

Construction lasted from 1934 to 1939, and the opening took place on 21 June with a performance of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell.

Post-war

After World War II, the facility was the site of an international camp for European youth in the summer of 1951, and was then used for the presentation of classic drama from 1952 to 1967. In 1968, it began to be used for both orchestral and pop concerts, and since 1976, when Genesis played there, it has been used mainly for rock concerts, but also for films and religious services. Other rock performers who have appeared there include the Ramones, Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thin Lizzy, Joe Cocker, Rainbow, the Kinks, Eric Burdon, Marillion, Gary Moore, R.E.M., and Muse.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Freilichtbühne Loreley” as open-air theatre in St. Goarshausen, Germany. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Freilichtbühne, Loreley and open-air.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1934, 1939, 1976, 1951—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Freilichtbühne, Loreley and open-air providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Freilichtbühne Loreley”, the useful work is to connect “open-air theatre in St. Goarshausen, Germany” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1454504. Authority coordinates are 50.142, 7.731. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1939, 1976 and 1951.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Freilichtbühne Loreley”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Freilichtbühne Loreley primary sources, Freilichtbühne Loreley archive and Freilichtbühne research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Freilichtbühne Loreley”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Freilichtbühne Loreley” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.