Munich: This is how things continue at the Deutsches Theater

Created: 2022-01-23Updated: 2022-01-23, 3:15 p.m

By: Michael Schleicher

They have been at the helm of the Deutsches Theater in Munich since 2007: Carmen Bayer and Werner Steer.

© Marcus sleep

The Deutsches Theater in Munich needs a new boss.

As reported, the supervisory board of the municipal stage dismissed the previous managing directors Werner Steer and Carmen Bayer on February 1, 2022.

Werner Steer is now commenting on the decision for the first time.

With a jukebox musical, hit follows hit, leaving little time for a short break.

In contrast, the meeting of the supervisory board of the Deutsches Theater on Friday, January 21, 2022 was probably a real marathon production and not exactly subject to entertainment tax.

The committee met for more than five hours - the result, which Katrin Haben Schaden (Greens), Munich's second mayor and chairwoman of the supervisory board, then announced late in the evening: The managing directors of the municipal house, Werner Steer and Carmen Bayer, will be replaced by February 1st dismiss their post.

The reason for this is that allowances were not paid to the employees of the musical stage.

Steer and Bayer have managed the Deutsches Theater since 2007

The duo has been at the helm of the Deutsches Theater since 2007, after both had held other positions for the house in the previous years.

Two years ago, the managing director contracts for Bayer and Steer were extended until the end of 2025.

Now the curtain falls for you here at the end of the month.

Rumors of an impending dismissal were already circulating among the guests at the "Flashdance" premiere on January 12.

(Read our review of the premiere of "Flashdance" at the Deutsches Theater in Munich here)

Special meeting of the Supervisory Board shortly before Christmas

As reported, it became known last December that the Deutsches Theater should not have passed on 130,000 euros for the Munich allowance and the job ticket to the employees. The city then initiated an external legal examination of the allegations - the cultural department itself also checked. According to information from "Münchner Merkur", the supervisory board met shortly before Christmas for a first special meeting to discuss the interim results of the investigations. On Friday, another special meeting was scheduled - from the environment of the supervisory board, which also includes Munich's cultural advisor Anton Biebl and representatives of the large city council groups, it can be heard from the environment of the supervisory board that the vote to dismiss Bayer/Steer was very clear.

Steer: "The Deutsches Theater was always much more than just a job for me"

Werner Steer commented on the decision in writing on Sunday: "The allegation that the management used the funds for the Munich allowance/job ticket for other purposes or inappropriately is not correct," he said in his statement.

"The subsidy transferred by the state capital is available in full in the accounts of the Betriebs GmbH, and there was never any intention of using this money improperly."

Deutsches Theater: Interim solution from February 1, 2022

In the company, a Munich allowance or a job ticket has “never” been paid to the workforce, since the company is not bound by collective bargaining agreements and the employees are paid outside of collective bargaining agreements. "Because after the beginning of the pandemic and the introduction of short-time work, it was unclear whether the Munich allowance/job ticket could be paid out to the employees of the theater at all, against the background of the ban on better conditions for the employees of the state capital, the payment was made the allowance has been deferred for the time being", writes Steer: "Neither Carmen Bayer nor I had the slightest advantage from this procedure, but we acted as we saw it as our duty in the interests of the company and the legal requirements.He was "more than unhappy about the dismissal and release, because the Deutsches Theater was always much more than just a job for me".

The city is now looking for an interim solution for the theater tip, ideally from February 1st.

The next musical premiere is already on the schedule for February 3 with “Jekyll & Hyde”.

By the end of the year at the latest, it should be clear who will be the new boss on Schwanthalerstrasse.