The Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden will have a new Managing Director. Thomas Eisenträger will take up the post on October 1, 2026, the Hessian Ministry of Culture announced on Wednesday. The Coburg native comes from the Heidelberg Theatre and Orchestra, where he has served as Administrative Director since 2020. In Wiesbaden, he succeeds Holger von Berg, who held the position from 2021 to 2025.

Thomas Eisenträger

With Eisenträger, born in 1979, the Wiesbaden State Theatre gains an experienced cultural manager, explained Culture Minister Timon Gremmels (SPD). "He knows the economic, legal, and organizational challenges of a large theatre from many years of practical experience – and thus what makes artistic operations possible in the first place." Furthermore, with his teaching position at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, he brings valuable insights into the training of young artistic and administrative talent.

Eisenträger studied law with a supplementary qualification in economics at the University of Bayreuth. After completing his legal traineeship, which included placements at the Berlin Opera Foundation and the Berlin Senate Department for Culture, he passed the Second State Examination in Law in 2007. That same year, he became Head of Human Resources at the Volksbühne Berlin on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, and in 2009, he became Legal Counsel to the management of the Ruhrtriennale. From 2012 to 2019, he served as Administrative Director at the Theater Bremen before moving to Heidelberg.

"The artistic diversity of the various disciplines and the high quality of the program make the Wiesbaden State Theatre a special venue," said Eisenträger. "Theatre arises from the collaboration of many – I see my role as working together with the artistic directors to create the best possible conditions for this." Together with artistic directors Dorothea Hartmann and Beate Heine, the managing director will form the stage management team of the State Theatre.

The artistic director of the Heidelberg Theatre and Orchestra, Holger Schultze, thanked Eisenberg for his loyalty, friendship, and ingenuity. "With him, it was possible to steer our institution onto the successful course that we can now look back on together after 15 years." Heidelberg is losing a good man.

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