Görlitz (dpa/sn) - After major water damage, the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in Görlitz will remain closed until November 26th. On Tuesday, after a fault in the fire alarm system, the deluge system on the main stage of the historic theater building from 1851 was triggered, as the theater announced on Thursday. Within a few minutes, the entire stage area was flooded with several thousand liters of water.
All of the technical systems were destroyed in the process, spotlights, backdrop trains, the stage manager system, as well as control technology and servers. The backdrops, notices and props on the stage also fell victim to the water. The damage is currently estimated at several million euros.
That was a catastrophe, said director Daniel Morgenroth. "We were about to premiere our brilliantly entertaining musical Prince of Prussia. Our house was always sold out in the past performances and we were expecting a very good Christmas season." Now everything has to be rescheduled. Tickets that have already been purchased can be exchanged for vouchers at the pre-sale points and at the cash desk. A refund of the purchase price is also possible.
The reason for the activation of the extinguishing system has not yet been found, it said. Probably a technical error. An actual fire could be ruled out.
