Stadsschouwburg Leuven

Leuven's Stadsschouwburg opened on 3 September 1867, following construction begun in 1864 to designs by city architect Edward Lavergne. Fire in 1914 destroyed most of the theatre, leaving its exterior and horseshoe-shaped auditorium walls. Reconstruction combined Alban Chambon's structural work with an interior designed by Jules Van den Hende and decorated by artists including Constant Montald and Maurice Langaskens. The rebuilt theatre reopened on 11 March 1938. Further wartime damage was repaired in 1952, and renovations in 1994–1996 renewed public and backstage facilities while conserving the decorative paintings. The theatre received protected-monument status in November 1994. Built between 1864 and 1867 to replace the demolished Frascati hall, Leuven's municipal theatre opened on 3 September 1867 with room for about a thousand. The fire of 1914 gutted it; reconstruction ran until the ceremonial reopening in March 1938, when Constant Montald painted the dome above the auditorium, and bomb damage was repaired again in 1952. Renovation in 1994–96 left roughly 750 seats. The city owns the house and programmes theatre, dance, concerts and touring opera in it.