Theatre had to struggle patiently for a dozen or so centuries to eventually reach the position of being admired by spectators, during which time actors were forced to accept the role of travelling itinerant players invited and paid, depending on the mood. It was a long time before the theatre play reached Cieszyn. In the Middle Ages and modern times the people of Cieszyn were frequently entertained, but they rather admired the skills of jugglers and tightrope-walkers. The evidence that the town on the Olza River was also visited by travelling theatre troupes dates back to the 18th century. We know, for example, that a group of travelling actors or itinerant players managed by F. J. Wausche, performing ‘hochdeutsche Komödie’ stayed in Cieszyn in 1726. Occasionally Cieszyn Jesuits organised school plays, supported by the pupils of the Latin grammar school they ran.
      During the century vaunted by the name “Enlightenment”, the number of theatre groups visiting Cieszyn steadily increased as well as the citizens’ interest in Melpomena’s play, particularly after 1779 when, during the debate of the Cieszyn Peace, the locals had the opportunity to come into contact with world chic and fashion. At the end of the century Cieszyn was no longer in the sphere of interest but theatre came to be an important need of the majority of the town dwellers and the municipal authorities. In 1788 the town hall, still under construction, was supplemented with the redutowa hall intended for theatre plays. As a matter of fact, in May of the following year, redutowa hall, the town hall and almost the whole town were destroyed in a fire. However, plays continued to be performed, first in different places and then in the rebuilt hall. They touched upon different subject matters and theatre ‘directors’, combining the roles of artists, impresarios and private entrepreneurs, were obliged to satisfy the various needs of the demanding and easily-satisfied audience. We know, for example, that in January 1793 a four-act family play entitled ‘Victory – Charitableness is beneficial’ [Viktoria oder Wohltun trägt Zinsen] by Friedrich Ludwig Schroeder, a popular author of sentimental dramas, was performed. On another day, on 26 January, the same theatre troupe performed ‘Fortune-telling and love’ by Frederick Schiller, only 9 years after the German drama classic had been published.
      Starting from the late 18th century, theatre plays became an indispensable element of the town’s cultural life, which was not hindered even by the difficult times of the Napoleonic wars and the bankruptcy of the Austrian state in 1811. However, there was not enough money to establish a fully-equipped theatre hall, the one at the town hall was deteriorating and hardly satisfied theatre lovers' needs. It was possible to meet the repeated demands only after the end of the war in 1815. The following year, under the order of the town authorities, the architect Florian Jilg designed a plan for a new theatre building and produced a cost estimate slightly exceeding 7 000 Austrian zlotys [florins – fl.], with building materials estimated at 2 700 florins. Since the town had run out of funds, the required financial means were gathered by the distribution of 50 fl. shares among Cieszyn’s theatre lovers. The Chamber Authorities promised to support the request for material delivery with the emperor and consequently a permit to build the theatre was granted. The building works, finished in October 1816, were supervised by Jilg himself, additionally a contract was concluded with stage designer Mayer from Opawa to make the scenery and all the necessary props. The opening ceremony took place on 17 November 1816. Since there was nobody willing to rent the building it was managed by a town-appointed committee, starting from mid-1817 it was rented for 900 florins a year. Those posters that have been preserved to date reveal titles and types of theatre plays staged in Cieszyn at that time. One of them, dating back to 1819 and promoting a comic opera was ‘Thaddähl oder der 80jährige A-B-C-Schütz’ by Wilhelm Müller, a popular kapellmeister from Vienna. In 1825, for example, ‘Schrioffenstein’s family’, Kleist’s early play was on, ten years later Gustav Seeliger’s troupe staged ‘Romeo and Juliet’ according to a free adaptation of Shakespeare’s work. A tribute towards the local audience consisted of adaptations of earlier plays to local circumstances the examples of which include 'Lorenz's Journey to Cieszyn' or ' Cake of Błogocice'. The latter one, as a matter of fact, was staged in Grabina and Saska Kępa.
      The theatre and redutowa hall, built according to Florian Jilg’s design, burnt down with the whole town hall on 4 November 1836 after the performing players had started the fire. However they did not give up performances, a temporary theatre was operating on the premises of the military barracks. In addition, the Social Committee to Rebuild the Town Hall and the theatre as well was established, and following a tender for the design of a new theatre, they chose the design (which practically outlined the former building) by Franz Schneider from Vienna. However Gubernia authorities approved the design by famous architect, Josef Kornhäusel, also from Vienna, whose designs include five theatre buildings in Lower Austria and the theatre in Ołomuniec. Kornhäusel had long worked at the Archduke Charles Habsburg's court. For example, he redecorated Archduke's castle in Cieszyn and the Castle Hill. In his design Kornhäusel made a clearer distinction between the town hall and the theatre, with the two buildings having separate facades. The theatre facade was characterised by refined simplicity acquired with a characteristic method of delicate rustic work on the cornice and round-topped windows. The impressive entrance from Ratuszowa St. led to the performance hall used also as a redutowa hall and a restaurant. The building was surrounded with outbuildings, a coach house and a stable. In the meantime theatre lovers watched performances in the barracks, where Johann Strauss (the father), a renowned Viennese composer, played a concert in November 1844. However, this theatre hall plus the equipment burnt down as well at the beginning of 1845, which speeded up the building of the town hall theatre. The building work was supervised by an architect Joseph Groß, the building and equipment expenses were mostly covered by Archduke Charles. The theatre troupe operating in Cieszyn from at least 1846 through Thiel was given the honour of opening the new theatre on 5 April 1847. ‘The Red Ribbon’ [Die rote Schleife] by Johann Ludwig Deinhardstein, a literature professor and the Director of Burgteater in Vienna, was chosen to inaugarate the theatre’s operation.
      The town hall theatre, the third one in the history of Cieszyn, designed by Josef Kornhäusel served Cieszyn theatre and music lovers for the next half a century. However, in second half of the 19th century, following the economic and demographic development of the town, the number of educated citizens who could not imagine their spiritual lives without regular visits to Melpomena's temple, was increasing. The love for culture and art increased even more in the last decade of the 19th century, after Archduke Eugenius’ stay of 1888-91. He was a great lover of art, theatre in particular, and established a kind of a court theatre which operated at Cieszyn Castle. It was no accident that ‘Archduke Eugenius’ Hall’, established as an addition to the ‘Austria’ Hotel, reminded the longest of his stay in the town. It was here where the most elegant balls and theatre performances took place, since in general opinion, the town hall theatre was too small and inappropriate. The citizens’ frustration was increased by the fact that some neighbouring cities (Moravian Ostrawa, Bielsko, and then Frydek) built separate theatres. This explains numerous projects, e.g. in 1895 the liberal 'Silesia' postulated establishing a common registered office for the societies operating in the town together with the theatre. In 1898, on the occasion of the anniversary ceremony, the Municipal Savings Fund resolved to grant 10 000 florins to the theatre building fund.
      The person to convince of the need for a separate theatre building in Cieszyn was the member of the town authorities, local councillor Franz Bartha. On 26 March 1902 he organised an issue-related meeting in the German House where he gathered 12 people including Franz Srb architects Alois Jedek and Ludwig Kametz and journalist Albin Geyer, who guaranteed ‘Silesia’s support. The legitimateness of the idea and the need for a theatre was agreed on and a society was established to supervise the project. The founding meeting of the Cieszyn Society for the Theatre Building [Teschner Theaterbauverein] took place on 24 April. A department composed of a dozen or so members formed the society’s authorities, and was presided over by F. Barth as the chairperson, Thomas Lenoch as head of the Savings Fund Office was the deputy chairperson, a teacher Leopold Widenka as the secretary and Johann Struhal, a municipal councillor as the treasurer. Rudolf Bukowski, then the Deputy Mayor and later Mayor, and educated as a lawyer, was also appointed a member of the department. The statute he developed, which defined the construction of a ‘German’ theatre in Cieszyn as the society’s main objective, was approved by the State Government in Opawa on 2 May 1902.
      The new society faced a challenging task as the estimated building cost was tremendous (it should be added that the final cost substantially exceeded the initial estimate). At the very beginning a decision was made to have a separate building, giving up the initial plans to restore the former redutowa hall at the town hall, which failed to fulfil the new needs and sanitary requirements. A suitable location was found at Barracks Square where the late 18th century barracks were to be soon pulled down since new infantry barracks had already been built at Materówka. It was also decided from the very beginning that the plans would be prepared by the well respected architectural and building company Fellner & Helmer from Vienna, priding itself on having built a dozen or so theatres in Augsburg, Czerniowce, Grazu, Karlove Vary, Salzburg, Zürich, Vienna and Berlin.
      On the other hand, the society was very influential since its members formed part of the elite of Cieszyn’s population. They referred to people’s generosity as the purpose was really noble, however there was also another reason. They openly demonstrated that one of the most important reasons for building the theatre and starting a new, extremely important cultural institution, was to strengthen the German character of the town and fight Slovak nations. The first year of the society’s operation turned out to be a financial success, with a total of over 100 000 crowns, and most major sums donated by German companies. The years to follow were not that successful, the building fund increased by 28-29 000 crowns a year. Someone particularly devoted to raising the money was the treasurer, J. Struhal. He managed to win even merchants’ interest, who, for example, collected people’s contributions at their shops in special money-boxes.
      In 1905 the military authorities started to pull down the former barracks, and vacated the site by 1907. However, after five years of the Society’s activity it managed to collect only about 200 000 crowns and the estimated expenses were twice as much. Attempts were made to obtain financial support from the town fund. During one of the council department’s sessions Bartha appealed for an annual subsidy of 4 000 crowns and a guarantee to be granted a loan for 200 000 crowns. However, after years of intensive investments made during Mayor John Deml’s term of office, the town’s budget was in deplorable condition. The idea to support a private investment undertaking with the public money had numerous opponents, which is interesting not only among local Poles, who had criticised the idea to build a ‘German’ theatre in the town from the beginning. It seemed that the initially vigorous investment came to a standstill. The actively engaged society members and municipal authorities eventually found a way to obtain financial support with the public money without being accused of wasting tax-payers’ money. In 1909 the Cieszyn Savings Fund, owned by the town and yielding huge profits for years, celebrated its 50th anniversary. On the occasion, on 8 April 1909 the department managing the Fund made a resolution to grant 250 000 crowns to build the theatre which was approved by the State Government in Opawa on 27 April. The decision should not be surprising because in 1898 already the Savings Fund created a special fund for a theatre building. It was no accident, either, that the Fund was managed by consecutive town mayors, and the mayor in 1909 was Rudolf Bukowski, whereas from 1899 the Fund Department members included Bartha and from 1903 Struhal ( deputy mayor in 1909).
      There were no more obstacles then to quickly finish the building works. The General Meeting of the Society for the Theatre Building of 27 April 1909 made a formal resolution to build a theatre at the Barracks Square according to the design developed by Fellner & Helmer, and the town authorities were officially requested for a building permit. Although it was granted in August, following the opinion of the authorities in Opawa, the first spade hit the ground on 6 July, 6 o’clock, and the building work, executed according to his principals’ plans, was managed by Schmitt , sent here from Vienna. It took slightly over a year and engaged numerous local and outside companies, foreign companies included. The majority of bricks and stone came from the quarry and the brick-field of Fritz Fulda, whose building company additionally executed the majority of earth and bricklayer works. Metal stage components, engine room and stage equipment, including an automatic curtain changer were provided by technical company Hugo Baruch & Co from Berlin. The stage was made according to the design by Hans Peifert, from Berlin. The building expenses plus the equipment amounted to about 500 000 crowns, 10 000 crowns had been donated by the Emperor Franz Joseph I as a private contribution. The final technical inspection of the building was carried out on 19 September. The grand 3-stage opening ceremony of the new Cieszyn theatre took place on 24 September 1910. First, the building was officially handed over by Hermann Heller, the builders' representative to Franz Bartha, the Chairperson of the Society. Numerous speeches stressed the importance and magnificence of the new investment plus its significance for the town's cultural life and German awareness. The theatre was also officially announced to be ‘the German Theatre in Cieszyn’. Then, in his long speech, Bartha extended his thanks to everyone engaged in the project: the Emperor, town authorities plus the Savings Fund authorities, contractors and donators. The second stage of the ceremony included an afternoon performance of the stage adaptation of Franz Grillparzer’s play ‘Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen’. Oskar Gärtner, the former Director of the Theatre in Jihlava, employed by the Society as the Director, was in charge of the performance. The audience included all the prominent representatives of the local political and social life, such as Count Coudenhove, the President of Austrian Silesia, several MPs for the Silesian Seym, Artur Jirasek, the district governor of Cieszyn, and the mayors of several neighbouring cities. As it was customary in Cieszyn Silesia, there were also the Catholic and Evangelical parish priests plus the Cieszyn rabbi. The performance followed Beethoven's overture entitled ‘Die Weihe des Hauses' and the declamation by Ms Boruttau, the actress of the new theatre, of the poem ‘Prologue’ written by Friedrich Jenkner, a grammar school teacher, to celebrate the occasion. A guest of honour was Ms Anna Nolewska, the leading actress of the local theatre in Lipsk, who played Hero, Karl Waldschütz, an actor of the Vienna theatre, played Leander. The closing piece was an evening operetta entitled ‘Gipsy Baron’ by Johann Strauss, directed by Gärtner with the orchestra conducted by a new kapellmeister Josef Kollenberger.
      The neo-Baroque theatre was, from the very beginning, considered to be one of the finest buildings of that kind in Silesia. Although it was counted among small theatres (less than 800 people - it had a capacity of 770 spectators) all the shared rooms (foyer, vestibule, entrances) were estimated to hold twice as many spectators. It was furnished tastefully and at the same time in a modern style. The new director created a team of regular actors composed of 26 women and 15 men, plus a choir composed of 12 women and 10 men. Plays were directed by Josef L. Friedrich whereas operas and operettas by Fritz Oldat.
      It was already on 7 May 1910 when the last General Meeting of the Cieszyn Society for the Theatre Building took place when a resolution was made to transform it into The Cieszyn Theatrical Society [Teschner Teather-Verein]. Johann Struhal was now in charge of the Society, who together with Franz Bartha was justifiably considered to be the main initiator of the undertaking. They were also honoured with a commemorative plaque in the theatre foyer and one of the streets was named after Bartha.
      From that day the Cieszyn theatre entertained the citizens with the adaptations of classic plays (of course German classics only), the repertoire was expanded with operas and operettas plus other lighter performances. The performances of the Cieszyn theatre actors added variety to the performances of guest soloists invited mainly from Vienna but also from other cultural centres of the monarchy and Europe. Paradoxically, the theatre’s heyday fell during the hard time of World War I. This was due to the fact that on 12 November 1914 the high command of the Austrian army arrived in Cieszyn. At that time around 720 officers resided in Cieszyn who, due to the lack of entertainment, were happy to spend evenings at the theatre.. The prosperous period was soon to be over since right after 1920 the Germans lost their leading position in the town. As a matter of fact, even in the interwar period, the theatre received financial support from the town fund in the amount of several hundred zlotys but it was not much compared to the total annual expenses reaching almost 10 000 zlotys. First of all, the theatre attendance was not certain since the audience were increasingly distancing themselves from German culture. Due to the lack of funds, the Cieszyn Theatrical Society, in the interwar period headed by a renowned surgeon Dr Hermann Hinterstoisser, the Director of the Silesian Hospital, was forced to lay off their actors and orchestra members. German theatre groups from Bielsko and Moravian Ostrawa invited every week, gave performances in their place; performers from Opawa came with operas and operettas. Occasionally they succeeded in inviting more well known performers, e.g. in 1923 opera singers from Wrocław came to Cieszyn with Wagner’s ‘Walkiria’ and Mozart's ‘Magic flute’. The orchestra of the Cieszyn Male Singing Society accompanied free of charge. In 1930’s Polish amateur theatre groups started to perform on the Cieszyn stage and then the Polish Theatre Society, on the basis of rental agreements.
      Such a situation continued until the outbreak of World War II. In the period of the German occupation of Cieszyn, the theatre was taken over by the town, and following major repairs between 1940-41 a grand opening ceremony of the Municipal Theatre in Cieszyn [Städtische Bühne Teschen] took place. This was on 21 September 1941 and the first play was Felix Lützkendorf’s ‘Das Jahr 1000’. The play’s director was Robert Ludwig (1894-1975), the theatre manager appointed by the authorities, holding the title of intendent regular in Prussian Silesia but not that popular in Cieszyn. The actor of the theatres in Gotha and Lubeka, born in Lipsk, was very serious about his job. Apart from propaganda performances expected by his Hitler’s mandatories, he produced works of the „sieben guten Geistern unseres Hauses”, that is German classics like Beethoven, Gluck, Goethe, Grillparzer, Mozart, Schiller and Wagner as the core repertoire component. An example might be the ceremony of 26 January 1943 when the German theatre authorities celebrated with due ceremony 150th anniversary of the theatre in Cieszyn with the opening date of 1793 when Schiller’s ‘Fortune-telling and Love’ had been staged for the first time. To celebrate the occasion intendent Robert Ludwig prepared a new adaptation of the play. However in 1945 the German cast and theatre management left the town. After World War II the theatre was taken over by the Polish state authorities and as the Adam Mickiewicz Theatre it was temporarily independent. Soon it was merged with the theatre in Bielsko, and at present it is managed by the town of Cieszyn.