Leham Theatre& Circus Fire
A source-based report on the 1836 St Petersburg temporary theatre booth fire, focusing on Old Style / New Style dating, exit failure, crush and suffocation risks, and disputed casualty figures.
Incident Overview
Fire in a temporary theatre booth
The incident is reported as 2 February 1836 in Russian Old Style dating, corresponding to 14 February 1836 New Style. Later English-language lists commonly use 14 February.
The fire occurred in Leham / Lehman / Lemann’s temporary wooden theatre or circus booth on Admiralty Square, St Petersburg, during an afternoon Maslenitsa or fairground performance.
Russian fire-history sources describe a lamp hung too high igniting the roof or rafters. Panic followed, with spectators crowding toward narrow or obstructed exits and inward-opening doors.
Location & Names
Admiralty Square, St Petersburg
Location: Lehman’s fairground theatre booth on Admiralty Square, St Petersburg, Russian Empire.
Incident names: Leham Theatre and Circus Fire, Lehman Theatre fire, Lemann’s booth fire, and Пожар в балагане Лемана.
Main hazard pattern: temporary combustible structure, ignition above the audience/performance area, inadequate exit design, inward-opening doors and severe casualty uncertainty.
See Disputed Details →Key Figures
Reported Casualty Profile
Chronology
Likely Sequence
Contributing Factors
What appears to have made it worse
Disputed Details
Where the sources do not agree
The incident itself is supported, but the casualty count and some descriptive details vary sharply across source traditions.
This is the main dispute. Russian fire-history and theatre-history sources give official figures around 126–130 deaths, while English-language disaster lists often repeat 600–800 or about 800 deaths.
St Petersburg Theatre Journal and Russian fire-society material give 126 deaths; statehistory.ru gives 130 deaths.
Geri Walton gives 600–800 deaths; Stage Whispers, WorldAtlas, Bristol and NFPA-related handouts give about 800.
Safest wording: official Russian-source figures are around 126–130; much higher English-list figures are disputed.
Russian sources give 2 February 1836. English-language lists normally convert this to 14 February 1836. One Stage Whispers item says December 1836, which conflicts with the better-supported date.
2 February 1836, Old Style.
14 February 1836 New Style, with one conflicting December listing.
Best wording: 14 February 1836 New Style / 2 February Old Style.
Russian sources describe a балаган: a fairground booth or temporary entertainment structure. English sources often call it Leham / Lehman Theatre and Circus.
Lehman’s fairground booth on Admiralty Square.
Leham / Lehman Theatre and Circus, St Petersburg.
These appear to refer to the same incident; “temporary wooden fairground theatre/circus booth” is the most precise wording.
Not Verified
Unverified Details
Items that should not be stated as firm fact.
Source Material
References
Sources recorded in the supplied research notes, including Russian fire-history sources and later English-language disaster lists.
All Document URLs
Source Links
Direct links recorded in the supplied research notes.
