Ernst Stern
Bridge in Paris
1916
Stage design (squared) for “Danton’s Death”
(staged by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1916)
Pencil, watercolor
Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne
Alexander Moissi (1879–1935) also played the leading role in Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) production of Georg Büchner’s (1813–1837) drama “Danton’s Death,” which Käthe Kollwitz saw at the end of 1916. She was so impressed by the performance that she sent her sister Lisbeth and her son Hans to the next performance.
The squaring on this draft shows that Stern’s image idea was enlarged directly to create a background stage set for the production. This makes it possible to understand the visual impression that Kollwitz had on stage.