Abstract
<jats:p>With the proclamation of the Republic of Austria on November 12, 1918, the status of the court theaters also changes. The state administration took over the two theaters at the end of November and transferred them from the imperial court arsenat to the budget of the young republic. Even the changing address of the Burgtheater shows the political upheavals: the "Franzensring", the official address of the Hofburgtheater, becomes the "Ring des 12. November". The "k. k. Hofburgtheater" - as it is still called today in a golden inscription on the building - swaps its imperial address for the republican one. Its task was no longer to represent the rulingdynasty and the pluricultural monarchy, but had to be redefined. What does the government hope to achieve through the state continuation of the Burgtheater, how does it envisage the relationship between the state and the (state) theater? What role is ascribed to the theater for the development of republican civil society? These questions determine the orientation of the former court theaters in the First Republic. They are decided in close connection with historical developments. – The role of the Burgtheater as „erstes deutschsprachiges Theater“ for the Austrian self-image is critically examined on the basis of source material: the administrative background of the takeover of the court theaters into the administration of the Republic, the debates about the task and position of the Burgtheater on the occasion of changes in management and controversially received productions are negotiated in the context of theater, collective memory and cultural identity constructions.</jats:p>