Waldbühne Benneckenstein |.THEATERNATUR FESTIVAL

In the location's words:

TheWALD|BÜHNE Benneckensteinis a historic outdoor theater in the Harz Mountains, nestled in a mixed forest on the southern outskirts of Benneckenstein. Situated among cleared spruce plantations and surrounded by a patch of mixed forest, it combines the ever-changing landscape of the Harz Mountains with a very special open-air atmosphere. It was built in 1952 by dedicated residents of the town to boost tourism and, over the decades, developed into a popular venue for theater and music events. After a comprehensive renovation in the early 1990s, the stage largely fell into obscurity and was used only sporadically.

Since 2014, the Waldbühne has been revitalized byKulturrevier Harz e. V.The nonprofit association develops and organizes, in particular, the annualTHEATERNATUR Festival of the Performing Arts, which has been bringing artists and audiences from all over Germany to the Harz region since 2015. With its own productions and guest performances ranging from drama, contemporary dance, and live music to children’s theater, performance art, and interdisciplinary productions, the Waldbühne is today a vibrant venue for professional independent performing arts and, in this combination, is unique in Germany. At the same time, the association continuously maintains, preserves, and develops the grounds, transforming the Waldbühne into a unique cultural hub in the border region of Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, and Thuringia—a place for encounters, exchange, and shared summer evenings where theater, nature, and bratwurst come together.