Munich Puppet Theater

With its founding year in 1858, the Munich Marionette Theater is one of Munich's most traditional cultural enterprises. At that time, Josef Leonhard “Papa” Schmid persuaded the city of Munich to “establish a permanent puppet theater for children” in order to perform “plays directed solely at decency, religion, and morality”.

Until then, puppet plays, that could mostly found at fairs, were rather crude and one-dimensional. Fortunately, Schmid found a great supporter in the well-known court official, artist and author of youth books, Franz Graf von Pocci, who not only took care of the realization of the theater, but also invented Kasperl Larifari. Since then, he has appeared as the master of the house and is part of 45 plays penned by Pocci. Kasperl is a classic character similar to Mr. Punch.

After 42 years of wandering, the theater finally received a permanent home in Blumenstraße in 1900. Since 2000, the current artistic director has been Siegfried Böhmke, a freelance puppeteer. The hourly changing program at their Oide Wiesn theater includes a total of four plays: Der Münchner im Himmel by Ludwig Thoma, Die verhexten Notenständer (one-act plays by Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt), Zirkus Kunterbunt and the Las Vegas Show. The latter features performances by Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, among others.