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2026: Theater der Welt in Chemnitz

After Hamburg 2017, Düsseldorf 2021 and Offenbach-Frankfurt 2023, the festival is now coming to Chemnitz — and will be returning to Saxony once more exactly 30 years after its 1996 edition in Dresden.

Germany's largest international theater festival THEATER DER WELT will take place in Chemnitz in 2026. On the occasion of her visit to THEATER DER WELT 2023 in Frankfurt and Offenbach, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, together with ITI President Yvonne Büdenhölzer, handed over the festival to the artistic director of the Chemnitz theaters Christoph Dittrich and the Chemnitz Mayor for Culture Dagmar Ruscheinsky on Tuesday.

"With THEATER DER WELT an internationally important event of the theater scene comes to Chemnitz. THEATER DER WELT stands for diversity and openness, for different influences and forms of expression, which is not only enriching for the performing arts, but also for social coexistence. THEATER DER WELT 2026 can draw on networks and infrastructure that Chemnitz has built up as European Capital of Culture 2025. In this way, Chemnitz can give new impetus to the festival and the Chemnitz Festival. I wish the team in Chemnitz every success," said Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth. 

The awarding of the 17th edition to Saxony was unanimously accepted by the board of the International Theatre Institute as a result of an application process.

You can find the entire press release here.


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