„Ich weeß nich, mir isses so gomisch“: Lene Voigt – Eine große Humoristin aus dem Leipziger Osten

The famous Saxon dialect poet and writer Lene Voigt (1891–1962) was born in the eastern part of Leipzig: She was born on Ludwigstraße in Neustadt-Neuschönefeld and spent her early years there—and thanks to her father, who spoke with a strong Saxon accent and read her poems by Goethe and Schiller from an early age, she later came up with the idea of translating “Erlkönig,” “The Pledge,” and other classical poems into Saxon in a parodic style. In the 1920s and early 1930s, she published in numerous newspapers and magazines before the Nazis banned her works for “defacing German classics.” She was also unwelcome in the early days of the GDR, because any use of the Saxon dialect in public was interpreted as a parody of SED leader Walter Ulbricht. It was not until the 1980s that her work was rediscovered; today, her legacy is preserved in Leipzig primarily by the Lene Voigt Society and its Lene Voigt Center. Leipzig actress and author Steffi Böttger introduces the great poet and recites her
wittiest works.

Admission: €10 per person

This event is part of the OSTLichter neighborhood culture festival.