Wiesbaden comes next with a subvention of 400,000 marks, (£20,000) granted by the Emperor of Germany as King of Prussia. The season is of ten months' duration.
The Court Theatre at Stuttgart is open for ten months, and the Royal subvention to Baron von Putlitz, the Intendant, is 300,000 marks (£15,000).
The same sum is granted by the Grand Duke of Baden to the Carlsruhe theatre for a season of ten months.
The subvention of Darmstadt is only 250,000 marks (£12,500), the season lasting but nine months.
The States of Bohemia grant a sum of 180,000 florins (£15,000 odd) to the theatres of Prague for a season of eleven months. 100,000 florins (£8000 odd) of this sum are destined for the National Tcheque Theatre.
Frankfort, as an ancient free city, does not enjoy the privileges of princely liberality, and has to put up with municipal help, which amounts to a yearly donation of 200,000 marks (£10,000) for a season of eleven months, and then the Conscript Fathers contrive to get one-half of their money back by exacting a duty of 30 pfennigs on every ticket sold. A syndicate, with a capital of £12,500, has been formed to help the municipal institution.—Mr Claar.
The chief advantages of Court theatres consist in a guarantee against possible deficit, and freedom from taxes; and this enables the Intendants to price the seats in their theatres, in a manner which makes the best opera accessible to the most modest purse. The prices of stalls in German theatres vary between 3 and 6 marks or 3 to 4 florins. (3s. to 6s. or 7s). Other seats are priced in proportion, and a considerable reduction is made in favour of subscribers. These are simply legion, and at Wiesbaden the management have been compelled to limit their number.
The table below, shows at a glance the price of stalls in some of the chief German theatres. I give the average figure, the price varying according to the order of the row.
| Vienna | 4 fls. (about 7s.) |
| Berlin | 4 fls. (about 7s.) |
| Munich } | |
| Wiesbaden } | 5 mks. (5s.) |
| Frankfort } | |
| Prague (Nat. Th.) | 3 fls. (about 5s.) |
| Prague (German Th.) | 2.50 (about 4s.) |
| Dresden } | 4 mks. (4s.) |
| Stuttgart } | |
| Darmstadt | 3.50 (3s. 6d.) |
| Carlsruhe | 3 mks. (3s.) |
The subscriptions are divided into four series, giving each the right to two performances weekly, but of course anyone can subscribe for more than one series. A yearly subscription comprises—at Berlin and Prague, 280 performances; at Vienna, 260; at Munich, 228; at Wiesbaden, 200; and at Frankfort, 188. To subscribers the prices of stalls are as follows:—