Bonbonniere

The elegant and fashionably furnished cabaret theatre was located at Neuturmstrasse 5 at the Kosttor. The theatre was co-founded in 1910 by the theatre director Emil Meßthaler (1869–1927), who was a friend and patron of Frank Wedekind, and by the actress and chanteuse Gussy Holl (1888–1966). They gave up the theatre just one year later and sold it to the restaurateur Hans Gruß, who made it into one of Munich’s best-known artists’ cabarets. Valeska Gert and Joachim von Seewitz celebrated their first successes here with their dance performances. The painter and illustrator Walter Schnackenberg created several posters. Wedekind also performed here. Erich Mühsam, Bert Brecht and Heinrich Mann were among the guests. The Bonbonniere remained a popular meeting place for artists after the end of the First World War. Conferencier Adolf Gondrell (1902–1954) took over in 1930.

The cabaret “Die Pfeffermühle” (“The Peppermill”) by Klaus and Erika Mann, Therese Giehse and Magnus Henning debuted here on 1 January 1933. Gondrell had purchased the Simplicissimus artists’ pub in 1935 and appointed the humourist Theo Prosel (1889–1955) as its landlord and manager. Gondrell and Prosel founded the company “Gondrell’s Bonbonierre” in 1938. Prosel withdrew from the project in 1941 and become the owner of the Simpl in exchange. At the same address (but in a new building), the Munich club “Atomic Café” was located here from 1997 to 2015. After renovations, the new studio stage of the LMU’s Theatre Studies Munich (TWM) has been housed here since summer 2018. (B.O.)

Gondrell’s Bonbonniere. Cabaret theatre. Managing directors: Adolf Gondrell and Theo Prosel. Telephone 24531. Munich 2. Neuturmstr. 5 | picture postcard | Betz collection

Sabrina and Alexandra talking to Brygida Ochaim about the bonbonniere and the performances of dancer Valeska Gert | © Munich Dance Histories