Ernst Stern
Figurine (costume design) for Sorge in “Faust II”
1911
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1911)
Mixed media
Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne
Another scene, which the artist described to her son Hans in 1911 as “delicate and captivating,” revolves around Faust’s purification in the final act, which redeems him from his pact with the devil. To this end, he is approached by the “Four Gray Women,” the personifications of want, need, guilt, and worry. But only worry, which Kollwitz also mentions separately, succeeds in touching Faust’s innermost being and bringing him to his senses.