On the occasion of the 100th stage anniversary of the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin, the goal was to bring the no longer existing predecessor building “Das Große Schauspielhaus Berlin” and its stage art back into public awareness. The VR project “An Evening at the Großes Schauspielhaus – Virtual Reality Time Travel Berlin 1927” opens a digital experience window into the past: the history(s) of the theater, its architecture and its art can be spatially experienced in the here and now. The special feature of this project: historical objects from the Stadtmuseum Berlin and other archives are integrated into the virtual narrative. In this way, the digital exhibits such as posters, props or stage-technical apparatus convey theater-historical knowledge in a poetic way.
Link to Steam / Download VR Project
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1535360/Opening_Night_at_the_Groen_Schauspielhaus__Berlin_1927
Links to the open source code
https://digital.dthg.de/data/Unity-VR-Grosses-Schauspielhaus_WithoutAssets.zip
2.6GB Unity project without assets
https://digital.dthg.de/data/Unity-VR-Grosses-Schauspielhaus_Assets_Audio.zip
4.8GB Assetfolder: Audio and FMod
https://digital.dthg.de/data/Unity-VR-Grosses-Schauspielhaus_Assets_Models.zip
1.9GB Assetfolder: 3D Models
https://digital.dthg.de/data/Unity-VR-Grosses-Schauspielhaus_OtherAssets.zip
700MB Assetfolder: all other assets
Link to the project
https://digital.dthg.de/en/projects/bringing-theatre-heritage-to-life/
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
“This VR experience pulls you out of the day. I felt like I was in the middle of the action. Interesting insight into the time of the Golden Twenties. It would be great if this process could be expanded to include other cultural, historical and architectural experiences!” an enthusiastic user writes to us. After all, the project is repeatedly brought to life as a mobile VR production at congresses and symposia. At the moment, there is a seminar at the Technical University of Berlin in cooperation with the Department of Art History under the direction of Prof. Dr. Wittmann-Englert and Prof. Dr. Hopp entitled „Theatererbe virtuell erlebbar machen”, which explores the topics of architectural reconstruction, digital handling of archive objects and narratives in virtual space on the basis of the VR project. The aim is to develop further concepts and ideas for the Großes Schauspielhaus Berlin; at best, these will be implemented in the near future as part of other research projects.
