5 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2024
    1. My writing is directed against the indolence of the heart and the stubbornness of the mind.

      Erich Kästner (1899-1974) was a "singer of the little man and the poet of the little freedoms” (Marcel Reich-Ranicki). With his witty and reflective verses that appear so simple, he guaranteed the continuity of the literary cabaret of the twenties into the postwar years. Following his first performances with his "utilitarian poetry” during the post-inflationary era of "new objectivity” prior to 1933 in Berlin cabarets such as Küka, the Tingel Tangel, Cabaret of the Comedians (Kabarett der Komiker) and Werner Finck’s Catacombs (Die Katakombe), he was only able to publish during the Third Reich with a special authorization or under a pseudonym. After the war, the pessimistic enlightener continued work of the Berlin era, now in Munich. With his melancholy and poetic songs, scenes, and sketches for the Showbooth (Schaubude) and Little Freedom (Kleine Freiheit), he influenced the cabaret of the years immediately following war until the foundation of two German states. His ideal of the cabaret as a moral and philosophical institution and a lyrical theater of the times anticipated the political and satirical ensemble cabarets of the fifties. "My writing is directed against the indolence of the heart and the stubbornness of the mind.” (Erich Kästner)

    2. “Not an entertainer, not a sentimentalist, nor a dry reciter of revolution, but rather a militant artist of our times. When Busch sings political songs, they retain their humor in all their seriousness, and their seriousness in their humor. They keep us alert. They are hits and others keep singing them.”

      Ernst Busch (1900-1980) was the singer of the proletariat and of proletarian history, a nuanced king of the democratic worker’s song. As the “singing heart of the working class” (according to Hanns Eisler), he performed songs of Tucholsky and Kästner in the Berlin cabarets Stuff and Nonsense (Larifari), the Catacombs (Katakombe) and in the Cabaret of the Comedians (Kabarett der Komiker); he also sang at demonstrations and worker’s meetings. After emigrating in 1933, he took part in the Spanish Civil War, and when interned in France, he led the theater group at the camp Gurs and performed in Peter Pan’s cabaret. He was extradited to Germany in 1943 and sentenced to a life term in prison. After liberation, the “Gründgens of the GDR” revived his career as a powerful actor of the people in numerous films and in Berlin ensembles. “Not an entertainer, not a sentimentalist, nor a dry reciter of revolution, but rather a militant artist of our times. When Busch sings political songs, they retain their humor in all their seriousness, and their seriousness in their humor. They keep us alert. They are hits and others keep singing them.”

    1. If people have no awareness of history, and society suffers because of it, they also have no awareness of art history. So no awareness of cabaret history either. Werner Schneyder

      Werber Schneyder on Cabaret, art and history.

      German-German history as reflected in political cabaret': ridiculed separately and laughed together. Cover poster: Klaus Staeck. The poster texts are accompanied by text panels. A version in Polish is available.

    1. I believe in the immortality of theater. It is the blissful hiding place of those who have put their childhood in their pockets and then left. Max Reinhardt

      Max Reinhardt on Cabaret.

      Cabaret as a form of satire, its literary, political, philosophical and poetic content are at the forefront of documentary interest; the ongoing collection and scientific utilization of its diverse manifestations is the central task of the German Cabaret Archive

      The playful, satirical form of cabaret and its literary, philosophical, and poetic qualities are the focus of our documentary interest. The central task of the German Cabaret Archives is the continuous collection and the availability of these materials to academics and historians

  2. Aug 2022