About the Patron's Circle - Deutsche Oper Berlin
With its commitment, the Förderkreis supports new productions and artistic projects that contribute to positioning the Deutsche Oper Berlin as one of the world's leading opera houses. The Förderkreis enables an average of six new productions per year – Stefan Herheim's new production of THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG alone received around €1 million in support from the Förderkreis. Supporting young singers is a second focus of the Förderkreis's work.
In recent years, the Förderkreis has succeeded in building up a lively and active association with an increasing number of enthusiastic young members: a group of opera lovers who feel a bond of friendship that goes far beyond simply attending the opera, and a circle that is constantly growing.
‘Music theatres must show initiative!’ This was the conviction of the former Artistic Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Prof. Dr. Götz Friedrich, when he initiated the founding of a supporters' association in early 1982. Together with the then opera director Dr Alard von Rohr and under the patronage of the then Governing Mayor of Berlin, Dr Richard von Weizsäcker, the association was officially founded on 13 February 1982.
The aim was and is to strengthen and intensify the leading position of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, both within and beyond the borders of Berlin, by providing material, non-material and journalistic support.
Prof. Dr. Franz Josef Weisweiler (Mannesmann AG) was elected chairman of the founding board in 1982, with Edzard Reuter (Daimler Benz AG) and Prof. Dr. Bernhard von Gersdorff (BEWAG) as his deputies. The board also included Prof. Götz Friedrich (opera director), Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Christians (Deutsche Bank AG), Dr. Hartmut Fetzer (Nixdorf Computer AG), Prof. Dr. Herbert Grünewald (Bayer AG), Dr. Peter Herlitz (Herlitz AG), Franz Karl Maier (Pressestiftung Tagesspiegel), Prof. Dr. Klaus Pohle (Schering AG), Kurt Schips (Robert Bosch GmbH) and Dr. Peter von Siemens (Siemens AG).
For more than 35 years, the circle has united opera lovers and supporters who are highly committed to promoting the Deutsche Oper Berlin and spending many an unforgettable evening together.
