The roots of the university go back to the Max Reinhardt drama school established in 1905 at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. As was usual at that time, it was a private institution. The first training facility was the ground floor of the Palais Wesendonkschen, In den Zelten 21, where Reinhardt lived, near the Reichstag. Reinhardt emigrated in 1933 and the Nazis took over the theatre along with the acting school. The director of the Deutsches Theater, Heinz Hilpert, secured subsidies for the first time in the school's history, but struggled to keep the school open. His work has been considered comparable to that of Gustaf Gründgens. After 1945, Boleslaw Barlog was rebuilding the theater world in West Berlin; Gustav von Wangenheim, returned from exile in Russia, became director of the Deutsches Theater, shortly followed by Wolfgang Langhoff, who held the position for many years. Teaching was resumed from July 1946, subsidized by the city of Berlin. After the currency reform of 1948, the school used rooms of the destroyed Schiller Theater in the west of the city.
State Drama School
Berlin's State Drama School was legally and conceptually founded in September 1951 as a public sector body. In a conscious departure from previous practice, the somewhat remote training center known as the Old Boat House in Niederschöneweide, in East Berlin, was chosen. Work on a new building started in 1979 and was completed in 1981. During this time, the school was in a school building in Marzahn. Major teachers were Rudolf Penka and Kurt Veth, Wolfgang Engel, Thomas Langhoff, Ursula Karusseit, Hans-Georg Simmgen, and Jutta Hoffmann; others included dance teacher Hilde Buchenwald and, as a speech trainer, the professional poet Karl Mickel. In East Germany, the school was considered a hotbed of talent.
Present day
About 90 students are enrolled at the drama school in drama, puppetry, directing and dance. The university uses the Berlin Workers' Theatre as a venue. Every year, about 15 productions are staged. The Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts Berlin is a member institution of the Permanent Conference of actor training. In 2004, the university won the Berlin Art Prize and became widely known due to the long-term documentary Addicted to Acting by Andres Veiel. A political storm arose in June 2005 over the appointment of sociologist Wolfgang Engler as rector of the university. He succeeded Klaus Völker, who had led the school since 1993. The institute was awarded the 2010 "Film Culture Award in Mannheim-Heidelberg", which the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg awards to companies, institutions, and individuals who have rendered outstanding service continuously over many years to film culture in Germany. , the academy has relocated to the former theatre workshops of Berlin, with purpose-built conversions and extensions of the building.
Notable alumni
Reinhardt's students from 1905–33 included: Graduates from 1933–50 included:
