„Deutschland, siehst du das nicht?“

In the organizer's words:

Literary concert

Downfall of the Weimar Republic (1929-1933)

"Germany, can't you see that?" - the title picks up on a haunting line from Kurt Tucholsky's 1930 poem Deutschland, erwache! It is a sharply worded warning call against radicalization, violence and the disintegration of democratic norms. Perhaps Tucholsky already suspected that the downfall of the first German democracy was imminent: the world economic crisis, mass unemployment, social hardship, political radicalization, street battles, emergency decrees and presidential cabinets were shaping the picture - the young republic was staggering inexorably towards its end.

And yet this was also a time of cultural prosperity. Brecht and Weill reinvented opera, Walter Mehring's Der Kaufmann von Berlin caused a theater scandal. The premiere of Erich Maria Remarque's Im Westen nichts Neues provoked Nazi protests, while Marlene Dietrich conquered the silver screen as Lola. Crowds flocked to sporting events, boxing world champion Max Schmeling became an icon, the big cities celebrated intoxication and rebellion: sex, drugs, Charleston.

In their new program, Roman Knižka and OPUS 45 take us back to this dramatic and dazzling final phase of the Weimar Republic - following on from their highly acclaimed Weimar program In diesem Land ... on the crisis year 1923. From the death of Gustav Stresemann to Hitler's rise to power, Roman Knižka traces the political and social stages of this final chapter. Literary texts by Erich Kästner, Mascha Kaléko, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Tucholsky meet contemporary reports and diaries - for example by Viktor Klemperer, Sebastian Haffner and Dorothy Thompson. A regional focus also sheds light on how the people of Hamburg experienced the political upheavals of these years.

The OPUS 45 wind quintet reflects the musical diversity of the era - with works by Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill, Erwin Schulhoff, Paul Juon and Jean Françaix. In addition, the hits and dance music of those years are heard - from Cole Porter to the Comedian Harmonists.

The Weimar Republic was not stillborn. Its failure was not inevitable. The central question at the end of the program is therefore: What lessons can we learn today from the downfall of the first German democracy?

The artists

Roman Knižka was born in Bautzen in 1970, initially trained as a theater carpenter at the Dresden Semperoper and left the GDR via the Green Border before the fall of the Wall. After studying at the Bochum Drama School, he first acted at the Bochum Schauspielhaus and then began to make a name for himself in TV dramas, romantic films, crime scenes and various cinema productions. He also regularly records audio books and is very successful on stage. His distinctive, versatile and engaging voice delights both children and adults.

The OPUS 45 wind quintet was founded during an orchestral project in Berlin: Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem (Opus 45) was on the program and has given the ensemble its name ever since. The wind quintet, consisting of musicians from the Hamburg State Opera, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, has been exploring new, interdisciplinary paths together with actor Roman Knižka for some time now. This has resulted in eight literary concerts that are unique in the German-speaking concert landscape - such as the program on Nazi resistance(Give the Nazis a resounding slap in the face!) or the staged reading on the history and present of right-wing violence in Germany, which the ensemble titled with the Primo Levi quote " It has happened, and therefore it can happen again ... ".

Award

On October 30, 2025, the artists were explicitly awarded the Hans Frankenthal Prize 2025 by the Auschwitz Committee Foundation for this program.

Contact the ensemble:
Benjamin Comparot
Bredenbekstr. 2
22397 Hamburg
(0176) 62 11 00 83
benjamin.comparot@gmx.de

Texts by Erich Kästner, Mascha Kaléko, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Tucholsky, Viktor Klemperer, Sebastian Haffner and Dorothy Thompson, among others
Music by Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill, Erwin Schulhoff, Paul Juon, Jean Françaix and others - as well as swing and hits by Cole Porter and the Comedian Harmonists
Recitation: Roman Knižka
Dramaturgy: Kathrin Liebhäuser

Duration of the concert: approx. 90 minutes (without intermission)
Extra chapter: Hamburg 1929-1933