A puppet theatre that performs Mozart operas at a level that rivals human opera companies. Founded in 1913 by wood-carver Anton Aicher and still run by his descendants. UNESCO intangible cultural heritage since 2016. On Schwarzstraße next to the Mozarteum.
The Story
Anton Aicher was a sculptor. He started carving marionettes in 1913 not as a novelty act but as a serious attempt to stage Mozart opera with wooden figures controlled by twelve strings each. His first production was Bastien und Bastienne, performed in an attic of the Künstlerhaus. By the end of the following year he had added thirteen more productions.
The theatre that grew from that workshop is something unusual. The marionettes are carved from linden wood, hand-painted, dressed in hand-sewn costumes. Each figure has twelve strings; the puppeteers work from a bridge two metres above the stage. The voices come from pre-recorded professional opera singers. This is not a limitation: it is an aesthetic choice that separates the marionette's physical performance from the musical one, and the result is stranger and more affecting than it sounds.
By the 1930s the company was touring internationally, winning a Gold Medal at the 1937 Paris World's Fair, performing in Moscow and Leningrad, and building a reputation entirely disproportionate to the scale of the enterprise. The UNESCO intangible cultural heritage inscription in 2016 formalised what specialists in puppetry had long recognised: the 12-string technique and the tradition of full opera production in this form are genuinely rare and worth protecting.
The current building on Schwarzstraße 24 has its own history. Built in 1891 as a brewery hall, it became a hotel, then a casino, and finally the theatre's home from 1970. James Joyce reportedly stayed there during an earlier incarnation as Hotel Mirabell in 1928. The interior now holds 320 seats.
Visiting
Schwarzstraße 24, Salzburg, adjacent to the Mozarteum and a short walk from Mirabell Palace. Performances year-round; check marionetten.at for schedule. Tickets EUR 22 to 38 depending on seat and production. Book in advance for summer and popular Mozart opera nights. The related Marionette Museum inside Hohensalzburg Fortress provides historical context for anyone attending.
