Bremer Theaterzettel

In the digital collection "Bremer Theaterzettel" we offer you free digital access to the Bremen theatre playbills held by the State and University Library Bremen (SuUB Bremen). Search online for performance dates, play titles or authors' names!

The SuUB holds around 23,000 playbills from the 18th to 20th centuries, which are continuously being digitised as part of a project funded by the Herold Foundation. The main focus of the SuUB Bremen's collection of playbills is on performances from Bremen's municipal and state theatres.

Playbills, i.e. theatre announcement posters, are an outstanding primary source on the history of Bremen's theatres. Among other things, they contain information on the titles, authors and actors of the plays performed in Bremen. Theatre playbills thus convey a picture of the cultural identity of their time and provide rich source material for a wide range of cultural studies subjects. Through digitization, these fragile materials are being made publicly accessible again for the first time in many years.