For almost fifteen years he had toured Europe with his children's theater. By now a father of a toddler himself, he longed for a permanent focus for his life and work. In 1997, he founded the music theater with his wife Renate. At first, he flirted with a tent on the banks of the Main. But there, the threat of flooding was ever present. So he turned to Dr. Matthias Jenny, and the director of the Palmengarten actually let him use the Siesmayer Hall in his entrance showhouse. It was here that Maienschein first appeared in 1998 as Mozart's birdcatcher in the "Little Magic Flute," which he had staged himself. He named his music theater at the Palmengarten after the jolly fellow in the colorful plumage.
