In a handwritten note dated 23 March 1776, Emperor Joseph II instructed the Prince of Khevenhüller, who was the Grand Master of the Court, to place German theatre under the administration of the court. The emperor designated the Imperial Theatre located next to the Hofburg as the venue for performances by the German theatre company and renamed it the “Teutsches National Theater”, or German National Theatre. The first performance under this new name took place on 8 April 1776.

The 2025/26 season marks the 250th anniversary of the Burgtheater, the name it was commonly referred to as. As Austria’s national theatre, it ranks among the oldest and largest spoken drama venues in Western Europe, second only to the Comédie-Française. Together with its three affiliated venues – the Akademietheater, Kasino and Vestibül – the Burgtheater is the country’s leading playhouse, blending tradition, diversity and innovation, and holding a key place in the German-language theatre landscape.

With the support of the Austrian National Library and the Theatre Museum, whose archives contain the Burgtheater’s historical playbills, it was possible to scan and digitise most of them – and in so doing, trace this venerable institution’s history through original sources. The result is a collection of almost all of the productions performed at the Burgtheater and its venues.

Playbills served to provide audiences with information about the performance they were attending, including the play’s title, the name of the playwright, and the cast performing that night. Over the years, the playbills also contained updates regarding changes to the lineup, special notes such as dedications for specific performances, announcements of upcoming events like balls, and even offers of rewards for the return of items that had been lost at the theatre.

Although the format of the playbills remained essentially the same through the years (it was consistently more or less A2 size), the design reflected changing styles from each decade to the next – particularly in the highlighting of the titles and the listing of the cast.

Every day these printed playbills were put up outside – and later also inside – the venues in question. This custom remained in place until June 2019. As of the 2019/2020 season, daily playbills were no longer printed, although a notice with the particular performance’s cast list was still displayed at the venue. With the 2022/2023 season, even these notices became a thing of the past and were replaced with screens showing the cast and title of the piece.

The collection contains about 119,000 playbills, which can be viewed on the “Kulturerbe digital” research platform. This represents a new source for academic research, while also giving the general public a chance to explore the 250-year history of the Burgtheater in a new way. Currently, the platform supports searches for specific productions, individuals and/or time periods. More data and relevant cross references will be added down the line.