Germany’s leading
costume house

A

About us

Since our inception in 1907, we work as a service company in the modern sense. We provide not just costumes – we create personal, individual costume wardrobes for each client’s requirements, from which they can draw upon each according to their needs. Obviously, every client is different and each project requires a different approach.

International Costume House for movies, TV, streaming, commercial, styling, music videos and theatre.

In response to this demand, we have built our own costume workshops as well as an extensive library and have developed contacts to various garment suppliers around the world. We offer exemplary service, which spans from research and project consulting, development sketches, and on-location fittings, all of which is guaranteed by a smoothly operating team.

 

With our high-quality collection, and its range encompassing all ages, styles and trends, we equip national and international productions of all sizes. Whether it is the full service costuming of numerous extras or the individual needs of solo roles – as the biggest costume house in Germany, we have grown to master every task.

If our stock of approximately 10 million pieces is not sufficient, our costume workshop can create the perfect complement to the existing collection. Each article of clothing or costume can be customized upon request by our team of sample makers, pattern makers, tailors, designers and costume dyers. In our workshop, handicraft tradition meets the demands of the fast-paced industry; our modern costume production services provide quick and flexible delivery times and can, upon request, produce costumes directly on-set.

Our history

With the epic period films of the 1920s and 1930s, Theaterkunst grows to international size. Fritz Lang chooses to use the support of Theaterkunst in the costuming of METROPOLIS (1926) for the star Heinrich George. Marlene Dietrich (THE BLUE ANGEL, 1930) and Henny Porten (ANNA BOLEYN, 1920) are also perfectly costumed by Theaterkunst. The lead actors travel by ship from America for the fitting of armor and robes of the monumental cinematic work BEN HUR (1925).
Development of the Theaterkunst trademark, still striking today, by commercial artist Otto Arpke

1920s

Die Theaterkunst hat internationale Dependancen in New York, Amsterdam, London, Kopenhagen und Stockholm. Zeitweise widmen sich 300 Mitarbeiter der Ausstattung von Filmen und Theaterstücken.

1930ies

Theaterkunst operates international offices in New York, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen and Stockholm. At times, the firm employs over to 300 employees devoted to the production of films and plays.

1936

During the Second World War, the collection of Theaterkunst is seriously damaged and is rebuilt only after the end of the war. The company is then divided into two parts – the management must relocate to West Berlin, and the location Schwedter Straße becomes the VEB Fortschritt Theaterkunst. The two companies compete in postwar Berlin.

The large film productions that are costumed during this decade include the 1940 made-in-Venice award-winning adaptation of Pushkin’s THE STATIONMASTER and the adaptation of Gottfried Keller’s KLEIDER MACHEN LEUTE (1940).

1940s

The West Berlin branch of Theaterkunst moves to the Eisenzahnstrasse.

50s and 60s

In 1953, the VEB Theaterkunst in East Berlin is closed.

In the following years, the costume collection, the library, and the print collection undergo a targeted expansion in the West Berlin branch. Award-winning films such as THE DEVIL´S GENERAL (1955), LOLA MONTEZ (1955), THE BRIDGE (1959), Billy Wilder’s ONE, TWO, THREE (1961), as well as the Karl May and Edgar Wallace films are provided with costumes from Theaterkunst. In the 1960s, Theaterkunst’s costume collection holding reaches its pre-war standing.

1953

In the 1970s and 80s, Theaterkunst influences film and television history with projects including SPACE PATROL ORION (1966), TADELLOESER & WOLFF (1975), DAS BOOT (1979) and the Fassbinder films, including BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ (1980). Through the development of private television broadcasters, a new marketplace develops which in turn brings a greater need for modern costumes and current fashions.

70s and 80s

In the 1990s, two more locations in the new media captials Hamburg and Cologne are opened. In addition to cinema films – including THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS (1993), SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998), RUN LOLA RUN (1998) – Theaterkunst now provides costumes for current TV productions, commercials, photo shoots, music videos, and events.

1990s

Theaterkunst again focuses on its main location in Berlin. In 2002, the collection in Munich closes and in 2008, the location in Cologne is closed. The headquarters in Berlin is continuously expanded and is the starting point for great national and international film productions, including INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (2009), SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) or THE WHITE RIBBON (2008).

Photo and video productions, including music videos for WIR SIND HELDEN, ROSENSTOLZ, PETER FOX and RAMMSTEIN are outfitted with costumes from Theaterkunst.

2000 till 2010

The location in Munich is closed.

2002

Opening of the Berlin Uniform Hall at Forckenbeckstraße 9-13.

2005

In 2007 the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen opens a special exhibition of film costumes on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Theaterkunst. Original movie costumes, photos and drawings are presented, ranging from the 1910s through contemporary German film.
The exhibition was conceived together with Theaterkunst. It can be seen at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and is also shown in Hamburg, Hanover and Düsseldorf in the following years.

2007

The location in Cologne is closed.

2008

Opening of the historical costume hall, right next to the uniform hall at Forckenbeckstraße 9-13.

2009

At the end of 2013 the company also closes the location in Hamburg. Over 25,000 costume pieces and accessories from the 50s, 60s, and 70s to the present are moved to the Berlin headquarters. The new pieces are integrated successively into Germany’s largest collection of historical and contemporary film costumes.

2013

Kerstin and Christoph Giulini become new owners of Theaterkunst.

Responding to changes in the market, Theaterkunst opens branches in Warsaw in Poland and in Cologne in 2019

2019

Another branch in the Hungarian capital Budapest in 2020 opens. The digital selection will be expanded to include the Theaterkunst Showroom. Costumes, uniforms, accessories and shoes in different views provide an insight into quality, variety and volume of the unique costume collection of Theaterkunst.

2020

Andreas Peters takes over as managing director of Theaterkunst GmbH and replaces Susanne Franke, who had been managing director since 2018.

2021

Our Team

2023

Renamed to Theaterkunst Hermann J. Kaufmann after the owner at the time.

1918

1952 a further collection is established in Munich, the new German film capital.

1952

Theaterkunst opens its doors in the Oranienburger Straße as a costume house for theater, opera, and cabaret and outfits the large Berlin theaters. Thanks to its dedicated and detailed work, Theaterkunst also supports the emerging cinema in the following decades and provides large national and international film productions with costumes.

1907

Team

 

Get to know the team of Theaterkunst and take a closer look behind the scenes of our costume house.

Individual consulting

Contact

 

You have the exciting new project and we certainly have the right costume! Feel free to call us! We will work with you to select or make it for the perfect look.

 

Phone +49 · (0)30 · 86 47 27-0
info@theaterkunst.de

 

 

 

 

Opening hours

 

Monday to Thursday
8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

 

Friday
8:00 till 15:45