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Diana Damrau Donates Gowns to Rebuild Theater Ulm’s Costume Collection
An October benefit gala will raise funds to replace costumes destroyed in last year’s fire.
Soprano Diana Damrau is donating evening gowns from her performing career to help Theater Ulm rebuild the costume collection lost in a fire in June 2025.
The gowns will be auctioned during a benefit gala at the theatre’s main auditorium on October 29, 2026. All proceeds from the auction will go towards rebuilding the collection.
Damrau will perform arias by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini and other composers, alongside the theatre’s opera ensemble and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Ulm. Opera director Benjamin Künzel will host the evening.
The initiative began when Damrau telephoned the theatre after learning that its rehearsal stage and storage facilities had burned down. Staff initially thought the call was a prank. Her offer to donate gowns subsequently developed into plans for the gala.
The fire destroyed approximately 27,000 costumes, numerous pieces of furniture and much of the prop collection, causing around €11 million in damage. Ulm Regional Court subsequently convicted a man of arson.