Managing director Ripberger terminated: Another drama at the Staatstheater Kassel? | hessenschau.de

Dance, drama and opera are performed at the State Theatre in Kassel – but dramas off the stage are currently overshadowing everything. First the quarrels surrounding the artistic director, orchestra and general music director, now the surprising dismissal of managing director Dieter Ripberger.

The personnel change comes at an inopportune time for the theater: In addition to the upcoming move to an interim location, Ripberger wanted to focus on a future-proof strategy for the theater. It is still unclear how things will continue without him. We have summarized the most important questions about the current events.

What happened?

The Hessian Ministry of Science, Research, Art and Culture (HMWK) has, according to its own statement, released the managing director of the Kassel State Theatre, Dieter Ripberger, against his will. nachtkritik.dean online portal for theater reporting, reports on it.

Ripberger's lawyer confirmed this to HR. Ripberger received the release on September 11th “completely unexpectedly and out of the blue”. The lawyer's letter states that there is “no justification” for this step.

Who is Dieter Ripberger?

Ripberger was appointed managing director of the Kassel State Theater in February 2024 under Minister Angela Dorn (Greens). Before that, the theater maker, born in 1987, was co-director and managing director of the city theater in Tübingen together with his husband. He was considered a young, dynamic cultural manager who wanted to keep his theater relevant. In his opinion, theater should be an open place for exchange and discourse, as he said in a Podcast :

What does the ministry say?

In response to a request from HR, the ministry under Timon Gremmels (SPD) said that it could not provide any information on the reasons for the release due to the ongoing proceedings. The Ripberger issue was a “pending case” because he announced in a press release on September 13 that the “'termination' was legally ineffective” and that he would turn to the labor court. A request to the labor court has so far remained unanswered.

What are the reactions from the theater?

Some of the theater's well-known employees were shocked after the decision was made and supported Ripberger in an official press release. They even wrote a joint letter to Gremmels.

In a statement on the theater's website, artistic director Florian Lutz even described a possible termination as “a pointless step in our work at the Kassel State Theater.” This statement is no longer available there. He found Ripberger to be “extremely approachable, trustworthy and competent,” Lutz continued. Most recently, he openly supported the managing director at the theater festival on September 14.

In statements from employees that were made available to HR, it is said that Ripberger conveyed “competence and trust”. There is also criticism of the HMWK's decision – and of Minister Gremmels. With his action, he caused incomprehension in the State Theater and “robbed countless employees of the hope of experiencing an upturn”. The ministry had set the wrong priorities – or as one employee summed it up: The decision shows “once again the incompetence of the ministry” and leaves behind “a colorful, shimmering pile of rubble”.

How did Timon Gremmels react to the open letter?

When asked by hr, a ministry spokeswoman commented on the allegations. Gremmels explained directly and personally on site at the theater that there were no serious plans to cut jobs or close entire departments, according to Wiesbaden.

The spokeswoman also assured that stopping the interim construction on the site of the former Jägerkaserne in Kassel's southern part of the city was not up for debate. The state of Hesse has worked extremely hard to make it happen and will continue to do so. The current building in the city center will be renovated from 2025 and will not be available for theater performances.

What happens next?

Minister of Arts Gremmels has been in office since mid-January. It is currently not known whether Ripberger's dismissal has a political background – after all, he was appointed to the post shortly before Angela Dorn (Greens) stepped down – whether there were problems with the contract or whether there was misconduct on Ripberger's part.

Incidentally, this is not the first tussle between the minister and a state cultural institution. At the beginning of his term in office, Gremmels had already taken action at the Wiesbaden State Theater and ended his collaboration with Uwe Eric Laufenberg. There had been internal disputes there. There is currently no news of a dispute in Kassel. Nevertheless, the personnel issue will presumably continue to be a topic of discussion in Kassel and will keep the HMKW busy.

Editorial staff:
Katrin Kimpel

Broadcast:
hr2 culture,

16.09.24, 16:10

Source: hessenschau.de