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Kollwitz’s first documented visit to a Berlin theatre dates back to February 26, 1893. It was the premiere of “The Weavers” by Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946), which made a profound impression on her. She later recalled that she immediately began work on her own series of prints based on the play. However, she likely also responded to another drama that premiered only a few weeks later that same year: Max Halbe’s (1865–1944) “Jugend” (Youth).

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was the artist’s declared favorite poet, and his “Faust I” played a central role in the Kollwitz family’s Easter tradition. She had already engaged with the character of Gretchen in 1889, presumably while still studying in Munich. In 1897, she had the opportunity to see Parts I and II of the tragedy in Berlin. The only documented evidence, however, only confirms her attendance at Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) celebrated production of “Faust II” in 1911.

exhibited works: 

4

Lovis Corinth
Portrait of Max Halbe
1917

Oil on canvas

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie

The now almost forgotten author Max Halbe (1865–1944) is classified as a naturalist. He was still unknown when his drama “Jugend” (Youth) premiered on April 23, 1893, to sensational success. However, his subsequent stage works were unable to build on this success.

5

Käthe Kollwitz
Young Couple
1904?

Etching, line etching, emery, reverse etching, and vernis mou with fabric printing

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

The subject of the 1893 etching clearly remained close to Käthe Kollwitz’s heart, as she revisited it after 1900. It is possible that she was dissatisfied with the technical execution of the earlier version. In the later print, the artist employed more complex intaglio techniques.

6

Käthe Kollwitz
Full-length self-portrait, seated
1893

Pen and ink, washed on handmade paper

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

Like many young artists, Käthe Kollwitz liked to use herself as a model, studying her posture and the effect of her facial expressions and gestures in front of a mirror. However, this detailed study of the female figure in the 1893 etching also has a personal touch. Kollwitz is said to have told her friend, the painter Otto Nagel (1894–1967), that the work was created after her first marital dispute with her husband Karl.

7

Käthe Kollwitz
Young Couple
1893

Etching, aquatint, emery, and polished steel on vellum, reworked with opaque white

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

This early etching can only be indirectly linked to Max Halbes’ (1865–1944) romantic drama Jugend (Youth), which premiered in 1893. Käthe Kollwitz herself must have told this to the Berlin art historian Johannes Sievers (1880–1969), who published it in his 1913 catalogue raisonné of her graphic works.

8

Alfred Roller (design)
Revolving stage model for Goethe’s “Faust I”
1909
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1909)

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In March 1909, Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) staged Goethe’s “Faust. Part I” using a revolving stage, which was a novelty at the time. Whereas the setting had previously been depicted using painted backdrops, the play was now performed in three-dimensional spaces. Reinhardt had first used the revolving stage in Berlin in 1905.
The director liked to commission visual artists to design the stage and costumes. In this case, it was Alfred Roller (1864–1935), co-founder of the Vienna Secession and an experienced stage designer.

9

Alfred Roller
Set design for Faust I (Street)
1909
(Staged by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, 1909)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

With his design, Alfred Roller (1864–1935) envisioned a single setting on the street for the revolving stage. Three scenes from the tragic plot take place on this street:

– Faust encounters the innocent Gretchen for the first time and woos her.

– A confrontation ensues between Faust and Mephisto.

– In a dispute between Gretchen’s brother Valentin and Faust, Faust kills the brother.

10

Emil Orlik
Rehearsal at Reinhardt’s
1909

Charcoal, colored chalk

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

The artist drew this sketch in 1909 during a rehearsal for Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) production of the tragedy “Faust. Part I.”

11

Emil Orlik
Max Reinhardt at the dress rehearsal with Paul Wegener as Mephisto
1911
(Production of “Faust II” by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1911)

Etching

Private collection, Berlin

On Easter Monday 1911, Käthe and Karl Kollwitz attended Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) production of Goethe’s “Faust. Part II,” which lasted eight hours. Both wrote about it to their son Hans, who was studying away from home.

12

Ernst Stern
Figurine (costume design) for Faust as Plutus
1911
(Production of “Faust II” by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1911)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

On April 18, 1911, Käthe Kollwitz wrote to her son Hans about the performance, in which she was particularly impressed by the Mummenschanz scene in the first act with the procession of various groups of costumed people. Here, Faust appears in the costume of Plutus, the personification of wealth and mineral resources. The artist found: “The masked ball was splendid.”

13

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.

14

Ernst Stern
Figurine (costume design) for the siren in “Faust II”
1911
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1911)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In the second act of the tragedy, Faust is transported to the ancient world with its gods and heroes. Sirens also appear here. These are bird-like female mythical creatures who, in mythology, beguile sailors with their singing in order to lead them to their doom. The costume design is supplemented by a construction sketch that visualizes the stage realization of this mythical creature.

15

Lovis Corinth
Stage design for the prologue in heaven in “Faust I”
1922
(Production by Victor Barnowsky at the Lessingtheater Berlin, 1922)

Pastel

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Lovis Corinth (1858–1925) was commissioned in 1922 to create the stage design for Victor Barnowsky’s (1875–1952) production of “Faust. Part I” at the Lessingtheater. He developed his overall concept from the scene of the prologue in heaven, in which the three archangels glorify God’s works. The outline of a Gothic vault for later scenes already appears in the heavenly scene.

16

Lovis Corinth
Stage design for the Easter walk in Faust I
1922
(Production by Victor Barnowsky at the Lessingtheater Berlin, 1922)

Pastel

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Behind the vaulted sky of the prologue, the setting for Faust and his assistant Wagner’s Easter walk outside the city gates can be seen.
In the Kollwitz family, it was part of the annual Easter ritual to read aloud from the text of Faust, Part I. It therefore seems plausible that the artist had seen more than one production of the play. In this case, her esteemed colleague Corinth was also involved in the production at the Lessingtheater.

17

Lovis Corinth
Stage design for the study in “Faust I”
1922
(Production by Victor Barnowsky at the Lessingtheater Berlin, 1922)

Pastel

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In this design, the Gothic vault, which is outlined in the other stage designs, now comes to the fore. Here it becomes the study of the scholar Faust in the first act. However, with a different interior, it can also serve as the architecture for the scenes in Auerbach’s Cellar and in the cathedral.

1

Käthe Kollwitz
March Cemetery
1913

Crayon lithograph
with typographic text at the bottom: 18 MARCH / FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE FREIE VOLKSBÜHNEN

Ute Kahl Collection, Cologne

In 1913, Käthe Kollwitz had an edition of this lithograph printed for the members of the Verein Volksbühne (People’s Theater Associations) at a low price. This was probably intended to enable them to purchase art. It is conceivable that the campaign was also linked to the collection of funds for the construction of their own theater, the Volksbühne (People’s Theater), which opened in 1914 on what is now Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin.

2

Käthe Kollwitz
March Cemetery
1913

Charcoal on Ingres laid paper

Ute Kahl Collection, Cologne

This drawing was used to prepare the lithograph of the same name, which commemorated March 18, 1848. On that day, 300 protesters fell victim to royal troops in Berlin during the revolutionary events of 1848/49. The rebels’ goals were national unity and political freedom in Germany. SPD circles commemorated these dead every year on March 18.

3

Käthe Kollwitz
Cover design for the Freie Volksbühne association magazine
circa 1900

Graphite and pen in black ink

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

The Freie Volksbühne association was founded in 1890 to give workers access to the theater. Closed events also allowed plays that were subject to censorship to be performed. Käthe Kollwitz’s brother Conrad Schmidt (1863–1932) was involved in the founding of the association and became its chairman in 1897. It was probably at his instigation that his sister created the vignette for the cover of the association’s magazines.

brief introduction to the authors:

Lovis Corinth

(Tapiau 1858 – 1925 Zandvoort)

Corinth received his artistic training in Königsberg, Munich, and Paris. After initial successes in Munich, he moved to Berlin in 1900 and joined the Secession. Coming from Impressionism, Corinth developed his paintings with vigorous brushwork and increasing colorfulness. He focused on mythological and religious themes, and was also an outstanding portraitist.

Emil Orlik

(Prag 1870–1932 Berlin)

After studying in Munich and working independently in Prague, Orlik was appointed head of the graphic arts class at the Berlin School of Arts and Crafts in 1905. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and made a name for himself as a portraitist of numerous figures from the performing and visual arts. Orlik also created designs for stage sets and costumes. He undertook numerous long-distance journeys and was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints.

Alfred Roller

(Brünn 1864–1935 Wien)

Born into a family of artists, Alfred Roller studied at the Vienna Academy and became a co-founder of the Vienna Secession in 1897. Until 1903, he worked as a teacher at the School of Applied Arts, then moved to the Vienna State Opera as head of set design, where he established the idea of the scenic Gesamtkunstwerk (complete work of art) together with Gustav Mahler. In 1909, Roller became director of the School of Applied Arts in Vienna, at the same time beginning his long-standing collaboration with Max Reinhardt in Berlin.

Ernst Stern

(Bukarest 1876–1954 London)

After studying at the Munich Art Academy, Stern initially worked as an illustrator for the well-known magazines “Jugend” and “Simplicissimus”. In 1905, Stern moved to Berlin and became a member of the Secession. He quickly rose to become chief set designer at the Reinhardt Theatres, and in the 1920s designed sets for operas, revues, and films. Stern continued to work as a visual artist and created several portfolios of prints. After 1933, Stern emigrated to London.

plays in brief:

Youth

Max Halbe’s drama “Jugend” (Youth) depicts the forbidden love between Annchen and her cousin Hans at a West Prussian parsonage. Caught between family expectations, social morals, and religious norms, their relationship escalates into conflict and tragic consequences. When a jealous rival exacerbates the conflict, a violent incident with fatal outcome ensues.

Faust I

The scholar Faust, despairing at the limits of his knowledge and life, enters into a pact with Mephisto, the devilish seducer: he receives youth and worldly fulfillment in exchange for his soul. On his travels, he meets a young girl named Gretchen and begins a passionate relationship. Faust’s actions throw her life into turmoil: her mother and brother die, Gretchen despairs, kills her child, and is imprisoned. Faust flees with Mephisto—Gretchen is left behind.

Faust II

In “Faust II”, Faust awakens at an imperial court, where, with Mephisto’s help, he promises wealth and order. On a journey through ancient and mythical worlds, he encounters Helen of Troy and experiences love and loss with her. In his old age, Faust wrestles land from the sea and pursues a major construction project. Blind and close to death, he dies at the moment of completion. Mephisto demands his soul, but angels take it away from him.

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]]> Stage 2: Text and performance https://www.kaethe-kollwitz.berlin/en/theater/stage-2-text-and-performance/ Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:10:51 +0000 https://www.kaethe-kollwitz.berlin/?p=14934

By the end of her studies in Munich in 1889, the young Käthe Schmidt had already begun an artistic adaptation of Émile Zola’s (1840–1902) novel “Germinal”. At the same time, she was also exploring the character of Gretchen from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (1749–1832) “Faust I”.

After her marriage to Karl Kollwitz (1863–1940) in 1891, she continued to work on both themes in Berlin. The premieres of Gerhart Hauptmann’s (1862–1946) drama “Die Weber” (The Weavers) on February 26, 1893, and Max Halbe’s (1865–1944) “Jugend” (Youth) on April 23, 1893, introduced further motifs into her work. She was particularly struck by the successful production of “The Weavers”, which led her to create her own cycle on this subject by 1897. The presentation of this cycle at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition in 1898 marked her artistic breakthrough. Emperor Wilhelm II’s refusal to award the series was countered by widespread recognition from experts and the public.

exhibited works: 

18

Eugène Delacroix
Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel / Marguerite au rouet
Illustration for Goethe’s “Faust I”
1828

Lithograph

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

Gretchen has fallen in love with Faust after he courted her intensely and they kissed for the first time. But she senses that this love will not end happily. So she talks to herself in her room, a monologue that was also set to music by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) in 1814.

The refrain goes:
My peace is gone
my heart is heavy
I find, I find it no more

19

Peter von Cornelius (design)
Ferdinand Ruscheweyh (execution)
Gretchen: “Oh, you who suffer so much, turn your gracious face toward my distress!”
Illustration for Goethe’s “Faust I,” sheet 9, 1816

Etching (F)

Berlin State Museums, Kupferstichkabinett

After Faust seduces the young girl, she finds herself expecting an illegitimate child. At that time, this meant social ruin for a woman. So Gretchen begs the Virgin Mary, in the form of Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows), for mercy.

20

Josef Hegenbarth
Kennel
Sheet 5 of 6 lithographs for “Faust. Part I”
1922

Lithograph

Private collection, Berlin

21

Käthe Kollwitz
Woman’s Fate (Martyrdom of Woman)
circa 1889

Wash pen and brush drawing on handmade paper

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

The sheet was probably created in 1889 during Kollwitz’s studies in Munich. It shows a half-naked woman crouching in front of an older woman and reaching imploringly for her arm. The older woman, dressed in a dark robe, leans forward as if to comfort the desperate woman. The cross in the background evokes associations with the fervent prayer with which Gretchen, pregnant out of wedlock, begs the Mater Dolorosa for mercy.

22

Käthe Kollwitz
Kneeling before an image of the Virgin Mary
circa 1893

Pen and ink, with brushwork samples in ink on the right, on sturdy vellum

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

This pen-and-ink drawing, created around 1893, shows that Käthe Kollwitz drew on various well-known illustrations of Goethe’s Faust I when she first began working on the character of Gretchen.

23

Käthe Kollwitz
Seated Woman Covering Her Face with Her Right Hand
circa 1893

Charcoal and pen in black ink on drawing paper

Private collection

While the ink drawing, probably created in Munich, only hints at the Gretchen motif, the reference to Goethe’s Faust tragedy is more evident in this drawing. It prepares the ground for the etching “An der Kirchenmauer” (At the Church Wall), in which a niche in the masonry and the long robe of a female statue can be seen above the seated woman.

24

Käthe Kollwitz
At the Church Wall
1893

Etching, line etching, drypoint, and brush etching

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

A comparison reveals that Käthe Kollwitz was inspired by existing depictions when she first began her artistic interpretation of the figure of Gretchen. While Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) shows the girl unhappy in love, the artist uses the seated motif for the deeply despairing Gretchen, who realizes she is pregnant out of wedlock.

25

Käthe Kollwitz
Gretchen
1899

Etching, drypoint, and aquatint on Chinese paper, rolled onto copperplate paper

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

Six years after her first etching on the theme of Gretchen, the artist designed an independent version of the motif. She combines two phases of the drama’s plot on one sheet. The unhappy, pregnant Gretchen stands on a footbridge over a body of water. Below her, she sees a comforting vision of the future: there, the child she drowned in despair after giving birth is lovingly embraced by a maternal figure of death.

26

Käthe Kollwitz
Königsberg Pub
circa 1891

Pen and ink in black, gray wash on drawing paper

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

After receiving recognition from her colleagues in Munich for an illustration for Émile Zola’s (1840–1902) novel Germinal, Käthe Kollwitz continued to pursue the theme upon her return to Königsberg. During the day, she made drawings in disreputable harbor pubs for the setting of the fight scene from Germinal that she wanted to depict.
The artist clearly based her work on the principle of the peep-box stage, in which the audience looks into the setting of an event as if through a missing fourth wall.

27

Käthe Kollwitz
Two Men Wrestling
circa 1892/93

Black charcoal, smudged in places on vellum

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

After Käthe Kollwitz had familiarized herself with the setting, she carried out studies of the characters in a key scene from the novel “Germinal” that she wanted to depict. Two young men fight over Catherine, a young miner.

28

Käthe Kollwitz
Scene from Germinal
1893

Etching, line etching, drypoint, and emery

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

Before Käthe Kollwitz turned her attention to the weavers’ story for her famous first graphic cycle, “A Weavers’ Revolt,” she completed this etching based on Émile Zola’s (1840–1902) novel “Germinal.”

29

Max Liebermann

Portrait of Gerhart Hauptmann

1892

Pastel

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Käthe Kollwitz had already met Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) before she saw the premiere of his drama “Die Weber” (The Weavers) on stage in 1893. The two had probably met before she began her studies in Berlin in 1886/87. During that winter semester, the aspiring artist was presumably invited several times to the home of the then still unknown poet in Erkner near Berlin. A loose correspondence developed between the two until 1943.

On “The Weavers”

[…] The suffering weavers are the heroes; each of the characters is merely a trait of this hero, a line in his portrait. The playbill, itself an interesting document in theater history, lists fifty characters, more than any other drama in stage literature […]
The characteristic feature of the weavers’ uprising, the absence of any political element and any actual revolutionary impulse, made the portrayal clearly effective. One could sense it: here, it was not utopian dreamers who rose up to attack the existing state; here, it was only a frenzy of despair, a delirium of hunger that had caused an excess; here, one stood before people who, full of reverence for the existing order, even accepted starvation as their fate within the beloved world order and resisted only starvation itself. The intended provocative effect was as little apparent as it was intended.

Isidor Landau – Berliner Börsen-Courier 28.2.1893

On “The Weavers”

[…] But there is not a trace of actual political poetry in his work; the poet avoided all rhetoric, and everything has been created and shaped in a genuine and truthful manner. Artistically, Gerhart Hauptmann is one of the very few in our time who carry the genuine wings of poetry on their shoulders and rise above the steam and haze of party politics to dwell in those purer heights that are accessible only to poets, philosophers, and truly religious natures. What moved the visitors to the “Freie Bühne” to such stormy applause on Sunday was certainly not the revolutionary speech of a party politician, but only the general, great humanity that expressed itself strongly in love, compassion, and hatred: everything political and socialist has here been purified into the purest artistic education and humanity floating above naked interest.

Julius Hart – Tägliche Rundschau 28.2.1893

30

Lovis Corinth
Rudolf Rittner as Florian Geyer
circa 1915

Watercolor and black chalk, heightened with opaque white

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

The actor Rudolf Rittner (1869–1943) played the title role in the new production of Hauptmann’s Peasant War drama Florian Geyer at the Lessingtheater in Berlin in 1904. The stage design and costumes were by the painter Max Slevogt (1868–1932). Rittner was known to Käthe Kollwitz as Moritz Jäger from the premiere of “The Weavers.” Lovis Corinth (1858–1925) was so impressed by the actor that he depicted him several times in the costume and pose of Florian Geyer.
There is evidence that the artist was familiar with Hauptmann’s play. However, we do not know whether she saw it on stage, and it has not yet been investigated whether it had any influence on her cycle on the Peasants’ War. Kollwitz herself rejected belles-lettres as a source for her work.

31

Käthe Kollwitz
Uprising
1899

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, brush etching, emery, and some roulette in black and red on copperplate paper

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

This etching represents the artist’s first engagement with the theme of the German Peasants’ War of 1524/25, to which she later devoted a cycle. Like Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) for his drama, Kollwitz also states that her source for this was Wilhelm Zimmermann’s (1807–1878) historical treatise.
The question arises as to whether she was not inspired to deal with the subject by the premiere of Florian Geyer in 1896. A comparison with Corinth’s watercolor reveals two defining elements that are found in both Corinth’s and Kollwitz’s works: the flag and the fire.

32

Emil Orlik
Die Weber (The Weavers) by G. Hauptmann
Poster for the production at the Große Schauspielhaus Berlin, 1921
Reprint of the 1897 poster

Crayon and ink lithography

German Historical Museum Foundation, Berlin

The poster was designed by Emil Orlik (1870–1932) in 1897 for a reading from the Weavers drama that took place in Prague. It was reused in 1921 to advertise a new production of the Weavers drama at the Große Schauspielhaus. Käthe Kollwitz had also seen this production and was almost as enthralled by it as she had been by the premiere in 1893.

33

Käthe Kollwitz
Death
Preliminary study for sheet 2 from the cycle A Weavers’ Revolt
1897

Pen and brush in ink over pencil, retouched in places with opaque white and pastel, on wove paper

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

34

Käthe Kollwitz
Four Men in a Pub
1892–1897

Etching, line etching, drypoint, and emery

Ute Kahl Collection, Cologne

This scene is probably an initial draft for “The Consultation” on sheet 3 of the cycle “A Weavers’ Revolt.” Whereas the conspiratorial nature of the gathering was illustrated there by long shadows, here it is suggested by the backlighting of the scene.

35

Käthe Kollwitz

Need, 1893–1897
Crayon and brush lithography, scraper and scraper needle

Death, 1893–1897
Crayon, pen and brush lithography, scraper and scraper needle

Conspiracy, 1893–1897
Crayon lithography, scraper and scraper needle

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

Sheets 1 to 3 of the cycle “A Weavers’ Revolt”

Käthe Kollwitz constructed her series “A Weavers’ Revolt” using a dramatic structure similar to that of a play, even though the sequence of images does not follow the classic five-act structure of theater. The artist depicts the weavers’ miserable situation in two sheets (“Need,” “Death”) – just as Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) dedicates two acts to it, also in an anti-classical manner. It is important to both artists to evoke sympathy in the audience for the plight of the weavers.

36

Käthe Kollwitz

March of the Weavers, 1893–1897
Line etching and sandpaper

Storming the Gate, 1893–1897
Line etching and sandpaper

End, 1893–1897
Line etching, aquatint, sandpaper and burnisher

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

Sheets 4 to 6 of the cycle “A Weaver’s Revolt”

The tavern scene with a “Conspiracy” (sheet 3) is set in motion, as indicated by the dynamic diagonal line from the left rear to the right front. The continuation of the action in the fourth sheet, “March of the Weavers”, also develops along this diagonal. The climax and turning point of the plot is reached in sheet 5 with the “Storming the Gate” of the factory owner’s villa. It reaches its tragic “End” in sheet 6, also in a reversal of the previous direction of movement, with the deaths of the weavers’ revolt.

37

Käthe Kollwitz
Need
Rejected version of plate 1 from the cycle A Weavers’ Revolt
1893–1897

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, sanding process, partially reworked in pencil on copperplate paper

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

The woman is clearly highlighted by the lighting, while the man is depicted merely as a dark silhouette.

38

Käthe Kollwitz
Need
Rejected version of plate 1 from the cycle A Weavers’ Revolt
1893–1897

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, and sanding process in black on copperplate paper, reworked with pencil and black chalk

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

The woman’s gesture clearly expresses the desperate situation of the family. The lighting particularly emphasizes the faces of the female figure in the background with the child in her arms

39

Käthe Kollwitz
Seated Woman
Draft for rejected version of Not (Need), sheet 1 from the cycle Ein Weberaufstand (A Weavers’ Revolt)
circa 1894

Charcoal drawing

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

This early sketch for what would later become the first sheet of the cycle A Weavers’ Revolt, entitled Need, makes it clear that Käthe Kollwitz wanted to focus on the misery of women and children from the outset in her artistic interpretation of the historical material.

brief introduction to the authors:

Josef Hegenbarth

(Böhmisch-Kamitz 1884–1962 Dresden)

After teaching himself the basics, Hegenbarth began studying art in Dresden in 1908, completing his studies in 1915. Hegenbarth worked primarily as a draftsman and printmaker and is known not only for his stylistically unique depictions of people and animals, but also for his illustrations of works of world literature. His drawings offer highly original interpretations of the literary works they accompany.

Max Liebermann

(Berlin 1947–1935 Berlin)

Max Liebermann received private drawing lessons as a child, but initially studied chemistry before attending art school in Weimar from 1869 to 1872. In Paris, he was inspired by landscape painters and representatives of realism. In Holland, he learned plein air painting. Liebermann shaped German Impressionism and was a co-founder of the Berlin Secession. As president of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, he championed its renewal. During the Nazi era, he and his family suffered severe reprisals.

Eugen Quaglio

(München 1857–1942 Paris)

Eugen Quaglio came from a family of artists. His father Angelo had worked as a stage designer in several cities. After training in his father’s workshop, he studied briefly at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy in Munich. In 1891, he became head of set design at the State Theater in Berlin, but also worked for other theaters. In 1924, he was appointed professor of theater painting in Munich.

Emil Stumpp

(Neckarzimmer 1886–1941 Stuhm)

After a semester at the Karlsruhe School of Arts and Crafts, Stumpp studied humanities in Marburg and Berlin from 1905 onwards. He passed a teaching exam and was then drafted into military service. From 1919, he taught in Königsberg but then moved to Berlin in 1924 to work as a freelance artist. With his accurate portraits, Stumpp became one of the most famous press illustrators of the Weimar Republic. In 1940, Stumpp was sentenced to prison for political statements and died in prison.

Emil Orlik

(Prag 1870–1932 Berlin)

After studying in Munich and working independently in Prague, Orlik was appointed head of the graphic arts class at the Berlin School of Arts and Crafts in 1905. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and made a name for himself as a portraitist of numerous figures from the performing and visual arts. Orlik also created designs for stage sets and costumes. He undertook numerous long-distance journeys and was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints.

Peter von Cornelius

(Düsseldorf 1783–1867 Berlin)

Cornelius came from a family of artists and studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1798. In 1811, he traveled to Rome and found his way to artists of the Nazarene style, of which he became the leading representative. In 1816, he published illustrations for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s drama Faust I. Cornelius is considered one of the innovators of monumental fresco painting.

plays in brief:

Faust I

The scholar Faust, despairing at the limits of his knowledge and life, enters into a pact with Mephisto, the devilish seducer: he receives youth and worldly fulfillment in exchange for his soul. On his travels, he meets a young girl named Gretchen and begins a passionate relationship. Faust’s actions throw her life into turmoil: her mother and brother die, Gretchen despairs, kills her child, and is imprisoned. Faust flees with Mephisto—Gretchen is left behind.

The Weavers

Gerhart Hauptmann’s “Die Weber” (The Weavers) depicts the everyday life of a Silesian weaver family in the 19th century. Hunger, disease, and debt dominate their lives, while merchants continue to cut wages. Their growing desperation finally erupts in a collective uprising: the weavers march to the homes of the factory owners, destroy their property, and violently demand their rights. The play ends without heroes, in the midst of the chaos of rebellion.

Florian Geyer

Gerhart Hauptmann’s “Florian Geyer” is set during the German Peasants’ War. The Franconian knight Florian Geyer sides with the rebellious peasants and leads the “Black Troop” against princes and nobility. While the movement initially gathers strength, it eventually falls apart due to internal tensions, violence, and betrayal. The uprisings are crushed, Geyer falls victim to an assassination, and the Peasants’ War ends in bloody defeat.

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For Käthe Kollwitz and her sister Lisbeth (1870–1963), later married to Georg Stern (1867–1934), the theater had been a constant presence since childhood. In Königsberg, they loved to perform classical dramas and plays they had written themselves using paper theater puppets. Their children – the two Kollwitz sons (Hans, 1892–1970, and Peter, 1896–1914) and the four Stern daughters (Regula, 1894–1980, Johanna, 1896–1988, Katharina, 1897–1984, and Maria, 1907–1993) – also enjoyed performing plays together, sometimes involving members of the older generation in private family performances.

However, they also enjoyed attending public performances, including productions that are now considered historically significant. Konrad Schmidt (1863–1932), the artist’s brother, was a theater critic and frequently received premier tickets, often inviting his sisters’ families. Here, we reconstruct some of the visual impressions that Käthe Kollwitz gathered during her many documented theater visits.

exhibited works: 

30

Lovis Corinth
Rudolf Rittner as Florian Geyer
circa 1915

Watercolor and black chalk, heightened with opaque white

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

The actor Rudolf Rittner (1869–1943) played the title role in the new production of Hauptmann’s Peasant War drama Florian Geyer at the Lessingtheater in Berlin in 1904. The stage design and costumes were by the painter Max Slevogt (1868–1932). Rittner was known to Käthe Kollwitz as Moritz Jäger from the premiere of “The Weavers.” Lovis Corinth (1858–1925) was so impressed by the actor that he depicted him several times in the costume and pose of Florian Geyer.
There is evidence that the artist was familiar with Hauptmann’s play. However, we do not know whether she saw it on stage, and it has not yet been investigated whether it had any influence on her cycle on the Peasants’ War. Kollwitz herself rejected belles-lettres as a source for her work.

31

Käthe Kollwitz
Uprising
1899

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, brush etching, emery, and some roulette in black and red on copperplate paper

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

This etching represents the artist’s first engagement with the theme of the German Peasants’ War of 1524/25, to which she later devoted a cycle. Like Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) for his drama, Kollwitz also states that her source for this was Wilhelm Zimmermann’s (1807–1878) historical treatise.
The question arises as to whether she was not inspired to deal with the subject by the premiere of Florian Geyer in 1896. A comparison with Corinth’s watercolor reveals two defining elements that are found in both Corinth’s and Kollwitz’s works: the flag and the fire.

40

Käthe Kollwitz
Outbreak
Sheet 5 from the cycle Peasants’ War
1902/03

Etching, line etching, drypoint, aquatint, and vernis mou

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

In her series Peasants’ War, Käthe Kollwitz took up for the first time the motif of the (human) crowd, which had emerged with the industrial age and was a theme in contemporary theater. According to a psychological theory by Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931), a group of individuals can merge into a crowd in which the individual disappears. This mass acts like a living being, led by individuals who emerge from it as leaders.
The print “Outbreak” reveals revolutionary energies. The mass of farmers charging forward in a wedge formation forms an inextricable mixture of limbs, heads, and weapons. Only a few individuals can be distinguished.

41

Käthe Kollwitz
Ploughman with standing woman in the foreground
Rejected third version of plate 1 from the Peasants’ War cycle
1906?

Etching, needlepoint and vernis mou with transfer print on copperplate paper, reworked with pencil, opaque white and brown ink

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

This early version of the first sheet in the etching series “Peasants’ War,” entitled “The Ploughmen,” once again highlights the theatrical nature of Käthe Kollwitz’s pictorial concepts. As on a stage, the scene is divided into a foreground and a distant background. In the theater, this background would be represented as a painted backdrop. The figures depicted present us with a story from the past for which we have no pictorial documents.

42

Käthe Kollwitz
The Prisoners
1908

Charcoal on brown paper

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

43

Käthe Kollwitz
The Prisoners
Sheet 7 from the cycle Peasants’ War
1908

Etching, line etching, drypoint, emery, and vernis mou

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin

While the peasants, huddled together after their defeat, are primarily preoccupied with themselves in the upper composition drawing, the final version of the sheet shows a figure in the center that is particularly emphasized. She seems to be the only one staring intently at the viewer. With this figure, the artist invites us to empathize with the miserable situation of the prisoners.
It seems as if Käthe Kollwitz had the later viewer in mind when she created her design, as someone who could be addressed directly. Like the performers on stage, she was also aware that she had an audience to whom she wanted to communicate something.

44

Emil Orlik
The Tavern on the Border with Saxony from Schiller’s “The Robbers”
1908

Gouache

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

The scene in this tavern is similar in structure to Kollwitz’s etching “Four Men in a Pub.” In this tavern scene, too, a dramatic conflict comes to a head. Here, the ‘good’ brother Karl receives a message forged by his “evil” brother that their father has disowned him.
Orlik (1870–1932) also places a group of men with their backs to the viewer in front of a window. With appropriate stage lighting from behind, the shadows cast here and there would suggest that events arising from the situation are about to unfold.

45

Emil Orlik
Franz Moor’s Room in Schiller’s “The Robbers”
1908

Gouache

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In 1908, Emil Orlik (1870–1932) was commissioned by director Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) to design the sets for his new production of Friedrich Schiller’s (1759–1805) drama “The Robbers” at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Paul Wegener (1874–1948) took on the role of the jealous Franz.
It is likely that Käthe Kollwitz saw this production on stage. On the one hand, she held her colleague Orlik in high regard, and on the other, she had also performed the play with paper theater puppets together with her sister Lisbeth in her childhood. In addition, her brother Conrad had published a positive review of this production.

46

Emil Orlik
Area on the Danube for Schiller’s “The Robbers”
1908

Gouache

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

The stage design shows the hideout of Franz Moor’s band of robbers, which was located in the woods on the Danube.
When Hans Kollwitz wanted to become an actor after graduating from high school, his parents asked the famous actor Paul Wegener for his opinion. In 1909, Hans auditioned for him with a part from The Robbers, among others, but was unsuccessful. At the same time, Wegener was playing Franz Moor in a current production of the play.

47

Johann Ferdinand Schreiber (publisher)
The Robbers
No. 504, picture sheet
after 1877

Paper, printing techniques

Berlin City Museum Foundation

Not only Käthe Kollwitz, but also her sister Lisbeth could still remember playing with paper theater puppets as children. She recalled that the two of them had played with characters from Friedrich Schiller’s play The Robbers, among others.

48

J. F. Schreiber (manufacturer)
Paper theater with proscenium, Berlin
circa 1900

Theater with architecturally structured stage, wooden frame for changing backdrops, stage set “Forest” by Schreiber, Esslingen, and figures for Schiller’s Robbers.

Berlin City Museum Foundation

As a young girl, Käthe Kollwitz loved to play theater with paper figures together with her sister. These were bought as picture sheets, colored with ink, and then cut out. The sisters did not have a perfect theater, but made do with building blocks, chairs, and tables.
This stage for cardboard figures is nevertheless interesting because it shows how a scene was staged in large theaters at that time: painted backdrops were either pushed onto the stage from the side or lowered from above from a pull-down ceiling.

49

Emil Orlik
Portrait of Hermann Bahr
1908

Etching, drypoint, roulette in brown-black

Private collection, Cologne

In 1948, Hans Kollwitz remembered his mother as a person who had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh. The artist is known to have enjoyed performances of comedies such as “Das Konzert” (The Concert) and “Das Prinzip” (The Principle) by Hermann Bahr. She saw the latter comedy in January 1913 together with her husband and son Peter.

On “The Principle”

Of the many comedies written by Bahr, this last one can best be compared to his masterpiece, the effervescently funny “Concert.” Carried by an excellent performance, his cheerful mood swept the audience along; one could not only laugh out loud, but also quietly enjoy the approval of one’s intellect. The surprise was all the more pleasant given that “Children” and “The Little Dance”, the two comedies that appeared after “Concert,” seemed to signal an inability to develop further. Certainly, “The Principle” is also fleeting, if you will. The author does not care about a handful of improbabilities, even impossibilities; he glosses over many important things and sketches the humanitarian world-improvement enthusiast Esch, who according to the title should be the main character, with only a few very caricatured strokes. But this summarily erratic approach works at the same time with such daring élan, such a wealth of ideas, contrasts, and meaningful psychological insights that one is happy to accept it as “poetic license.”

Conrad Schmidt: Vorwärts, 21.1.1913

50

Emil Stumpp
Portrait of Alfred Kerr
1926

Lithograph

German Historical Museum Foundation, Berlin

Alfred Kerr (1867–1948) initially studied German language and literature in Breslau and Berlin and wrote his first newspaper articles while still a student. He became one of the most renowned theater critics of his time, writing for various newspapers, including the Vossische Zeitung and the Frankfurter Zeitung. Kerr was friends with Gerhart Hauptmann and had supported him in his younger years.

51

Ernst Stern
Four stage sets from “Danton’s Death”
1916
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, 1916)

Pen and ink

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

After attending the play in December 1916, Käthe Kollwitz wrote in her diary: “Very powerful. Final scene: the guillotine on the Place de la Bastille. Two drunken servants sweep the blood from the steps and leave, bawling. The triumph of madness.”

52

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.

On “Danton’s Death”

The play at the Deutsches Theater flew by at a rapid pace, with Reinhardt’s usual imaginative and atmospheric staging of the crowd scenes. The first scene shows the great revolutionary, tired of politics, sitting at a card table surrounded by his friends, listening to a frivolous young woman recount her adventures. The stage darkens, and amid shrill cries, the image of lighthearted enjoyment is transformed into a picture of the terrible hardship facing the people.
[…] An aristocrat who has strayed into the crowd is to be punished for his pristine clothes by being hung from a lamppost, but escapes death at the last moment. What good are the severed heads of aristocrats to you, cries a street agitator, when your skirts are full of holes and your stomachs remain empty and hungry? Courage and despair mingle with excited laughter and the dance of the Karmagnole. […]
At the end, Reinhardt was called out stormily.

Conrad Schmidt: Entertainment section of Vorwärts, December 17, 1916

53

Sándor Járay
Portrait of Austrian actor Alexander Moissi
Model circa 1915 (?)

Bronze

Berlin City Museum Foundation

Käthe Kollwitz greatly admired Alexander Moissi (1879–1935) in various roles. She found the actor to be “enchantingly charming and spirited” in his portrayal of Everyman. In 1912, she wrote to her son Hans: “Except for Hamlet, I have never seen him perform so well.”

Audio recording

Alexander Moissi
Monologue from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
Original recording from 1912

Deutsche Grammophon-Aktiengesellschaft

Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library

Listen to what Käthe Kollwitz heard on stage: Alexander Moissi (1879–1935) recites the famous Hamlet monologue from the third act about “to be or not to be.” 

Scan the QR-Code on the object label.

54

Fritz Erler
Design for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Scenes I.1 and I.4, 1909

Oil on canvas

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

It is unclear when Käthe Kollwitz saw the production of Hamlet that Max Reinhardt staged at the Deutsches Theater in 1909. In a letter to her son Hans in 1912, she mentions in passing that she found the actor Alexander Moissi (1879-1935) particularly good in the role of Hamlet.

On “Hamlet”

[…]The decorations were extremely simple, clearly modeled on those of the Munich Artists’ Theater, whose limited space he had to contend with. Only the snow-covered castle terrace, the tall forest of halberdiers’ spears, and perhaps Ophelia’s funeral procession, dark against the light sky, had something pictorially imaginative about them, despite the great simplicity of the stylization. The sketches of the castle chambers and galleries were characterized by a restraint that here and there went too far and turned into sobriety. […]

The highlight of the evening, a triumph for the actor Reinhardt himself, who, despite initial failures, unwaveringly challenged his talent—which had been marred by severe affectation—with ever new and greater tasks, was Moissi’s Hamlet. […]

He was a handsome prince, yet without the slightest hint of conventional theatrical idealization, marked by the finest intellectualism, amiable and gentle by nature, a deeply introspective man who, thrown off course by a terrible experience, fought in vain against his paralysis with shame and fear.

Conrad Schmidt: Vorwärts, 19.10.1909

On “Hamlet”

Virtues and shortcomings of the performance… The virtue lay in its greater simplicity. […] Now, in “Hamlet”… the core space remains virtually unfilled, but nowhere do secondary matters become the main focus.[…]
Hamlet, a conversation piece. In some places, quite rightly so. Twenty years after the founding of the Freie Bühne, people in their city certainly speak more naturally […]
The most serious flaw, in my opinion, lies in the lack of control over the individual parts. The line towards the end becomes wavering, dull. A great director, it seems to me, brings intensity; he brings a sense of the whole; here, it is piece by piece (and fading towards the end)… the second half is fleeting… I don’t notice any growth in what has been achieved… One sees a tasteful Hamlet drama. Much of it is neatly toned, attuned, appealing, refined, delicious. I don’t want to say: a charming Hamlet. But instead of mythical clouds, something well-defined. […]
Moissi (with all his charms) was not a creature obsessed with ultimate questions. […]
A touching little Hamlet, yes. […] Alongside all the wonderful things. But we knew he had that. He was even charming … Except that he wasn’t that man in that play.

Alfred Kerr: Der Tag Nr. 245, 19.19.1909

55

Fritz Erler
Design for “Hamlet” 1909
Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) staged William Shakespeare’s (1564–1616) drama “Hamlet” in 1908 at the Künstler-Theater in Munich and in 1909 at the Deutsche Theater in Berlin.

60

Hans Strohbach
Stage/set design for “Masse Mensch” (Mass Man)
1921
(Production by Jürgen Fehling at the Berliner Volksbühne, 1921)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Käthe Kollwitz saw this drama by Ernst Toller (1893–1939) on stage in February 1922, together with a relative, and then wrote about it in her diary:
“It moved me deeply. How he expresses everything that one has tossed and turned over in one’s mind to the point of torment. In the end: ‘One must sacrifice only oneself.’ / The tense, chained masses of workers, upon whom machine-gun fire is unleashed and who sing the Marseillaise, roar, rage—it’s enough to drive one mad.”

61

Hans Strohbach
Stage/set design for “Masse Mensch” (Mass Man)
1921
(Production by Jürgen Fehling at the Berliner Volksbühne, 1921)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

62

Hermann Krehan after Robert Neppach
Stage/set design for “Die Wandlung” (Transfiguration)
undated
(Production by Karlheinz Martin at Die Tribüne Berlin, 1919)

Gouache

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

On October 12, 1919, Käthe Kollwitz recalled in her diary that she had seen her son Peter for the last time on that day five years earlier, shortly before he was killed in World War I on the Western Front in Flanders. Against this backdrop, she was reluctant to attend the evening performance of Ernst Toller’s (1893–1939) play Die Wandlung (The Transformation) with her husband and son Hans.
The production of the play was a resounding success, also for the leading actor, the young Fritz Kortner (1892–1970), who would later marry Kollwitz’s niece Hanna—stage name Johanna Hofer. Another novelty was the innovative stage design, which dispensed with any spatial illusion.

63

Ernst Barlach
Encounter on the heights (top left)
Reception under a tent (top right)
Mountain forest with the ark (bottom left)
Noah and Calan (bottom right)

Illustrations for the drama “The Sin Flood”

1924

Charcoal drawings

Ernst Barlach Haus – Stiftung Hermann F. Reemtsma, Hamburg

In January 1939, Käthe Kollwitz reported that she had attended a gathering in honor of the deceased and ostracized Ernst Barlach (1870–1938): “The Flood was read. […] It made a huge impression.”
However, she had probably not seen the 1925 production of the play directed by Jürgen Fehling at the Prussian State Theater.

64

Ernst Barlach
The Couple in Conversation, sheet 3 (top left)
Appearance in the Fog, sheet 24 (top right)
The Caller, sheet 22 (bottom left)
Call in the Fog, sheet 23 (bottom right)

Lithographs from the series The Dead Day

Ernst Barlach Haus – Stiftung Hermann F. Reemtsma, Hamburg

In December 1913, Käthe Kollwitz wrote in her diary:
“Read Barlach’s ‘Toten Tag’ (Dead Day) and was deeply moved by it. […] What grips me is the mother and her son. How he then wriggles free from her and calls for his father. And yet cannot reach God in all the fog. And returns to his mother’s side.”
In 1916, the artist also viewed the lithographs of Ernst Barlach (1870–1938) in an exhibition. Unlike with the drama Die echten Sedemunds, it is unclear whether she also attended the performance of the play at the Neues Volkstheater in 1923.

brief introduction to the authors:

Emil Orlik

(Prag 1870–1932 Berlin)

After studying in Munich and working independently in Prague, Orlik was appointed head of the graphic arts class at the Berlin School of Arts and Crafts in 1905. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and made a name for himself as a portraitist of numerous figures from the performing and visual arts. Orlik also created designs for stage sets and costumes. He undertook numerous long-distance journeys and was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints.

Ernst Stern

(Bukarest 1876–1954 London)

After studying at the Munich Art Academy, Stern initially worked as an illustrator for the well-known magazines “Jugend” and “Simplicissimus”. In 1905, Stern moved to Berlin and became a member of the Secession. He quickly rose to become chief set designer at the Reinhardt Theatres, and in the 1920s designed sets for operas, revues, and films. Stern continued to work as a visual artist and created several portfolios of prints. After 1933, Stern emigrated to London.

Ernst Barlach

(Wedel 1870–1938 Rostock)

Barlach received his artistic training in Hamburg and Dresden. From around 1900 to 1910, he lived in Berlin with interruptions and was represented there by gallery owner Paul Cassirer. A trip to Russia in 1906 was decisive for his artistic development. Coming from Art Nouveau, Barlach developed his own expressive style with concise, block-like figures. Barlach was a member of the Berlin Secession and, from 1919, the Prussian Academy of Arts. Under the Nazis, his works were considered “degenerate.”

Fritz Erler

(Frankenstein 1868 – 1940 München)

Erler studied in Breslau and Paris between 1886 and 1894. He soon made a name for himself as a mural and decorative painter, his monumental paintings often depicting themes from Germanic mythology. During World War I, he produced war paintings for propaganda purposes. His portrait work was devoted to artists and musicians, and from 1933 onwards also to leading Nazi politicians.

Sandor Jaray

(Temesvar 1870 – 1943 London)

Jaray initially studied acting and later turned to sculpture. His connections to the stage can be traced in many of his sculptural works. His most famous work is his portrait statue of the Viennese actor Josef Kainz in the role of Hamlet. He also created portraits of other actors. Jaray emigrated to England in 1938.

Kolomann Moser

(Wien 1868 – 1918 Wien)

Moser first studied at the Vienna Academy, then at the School of Applied Arts, and began working as an illustrator at an early age. He was one of the founders of the Vienna Secession and designed window decorations for the famous Secession building. In 1900, he was appointed professor at the School of Applied Arts and went on to design decorative arts objects, furniture, interior designs, and stage sets.

Robert Neppach

(Wien 1890 – 1939 Zürich)

After studying classical art in Munich, Neppach was hired as a stage designer at the Frankfurt New Theater. After World War I, he moved to Berlin, where he worked both for the theater and for the young medium of film. His stylized scenography, which drew on Expressionism, had a formative influence on the style of the time. In 1932, he founded his own film production company, which he was forced to give up in 1936. Neppach emigrated to Switzerland and committed extended suicide.

Max Slevogt

(Landshut 1868 – 1932 Leinsweiler)

Slevogt studied in Munich and Paris and was one of the most versatile artists of his time. From 1901 he lived in Berlin and was a member of the Berlin Secession. In addition to lively Impressionist paintings, he created drawings and prints and worked as an illustrator and stage designer.

Hans Strohbach

(Sebnitz 1891 – 1949 Frankfurt/Main)

Strohbach worked as a stage designer in Berlin in the 1920s, including for the Volksbühne theater, before later moving to Dresden.

plays in brief:

The Concert

In the comedy “Das Konzert” (The Concert), the famous, adored pianist Gustav Heink uses alleged concert tours as a pretext to start affairs with schoolgirls in a mountain hut. His wife Marie, who usually tolerates this, travels after the adulterers with the husband of his current lover (Delfine), which leads to the couple rediscovering their relationship.

The Principle

Former pastor Friedrich Esch preaches the principle of free development and self-determination for all people. When Esch’s own children put his principles into practice, with his son becoming engaged to the old cook and his daughter eloping with the gardener, the pastor learns just how absurd his dogmatism can be.

The Dead Day

In “Der tote Tag” (The Dead Day), Ernst Barlach tells a dark parable about isolation, guilt and human powerlessness. On a seemingly “dead day” a man realizes that his life is marked by indifference and missed opportunities. His inner emptiness is reflected in encounters with strangers until he is forced to accept the bitter truth about responsibility and mortality – a poetic, quiet drama between dream and reality.

The Real Sedemunds

The fate of the Sedemund family unfolds in a small town in Lower Germany. A rumor about an escaped lion stirs up fears and reveals hidden conflicts. In the conflict between father and son, guilt, sin, and family entanglements come to light—especially in the shadow of the mother’s suicide. Barlach paints a multifaceted picture of human responsibility, identity, and the search for authenticity in human existence.

The Sin Flood

In “Die Sündflut” (The Sin Flood), Ernst Barlach depicts the life of a community threatened by a devastating flood. As the water rises, relationships break down, old conflicts resurface, and people search for someone to blame. Some cling to possessions and power, others to compassion and hope. In the end, it is decided who will be saved – and who will perish.

Danton’s Death

Georg Büchner’s “Danton’s Death” takes place during the French Revolution. The once celebrated revolutionary leader Georges Danton comes into conflict with Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. Mistrust, intrigue, and political power struggles lead to his arrest. Despite a passionate defense, Danton and his comrades are brought to trial, convicted, and ultimately executed—a sequence of events that reveals the full extent of revolutionary terror.

Florian Geyer

Gerhart Hauptmann’s “Florian Geyer” is set during the German Peasants’ War. The Franconian knight Florian Geyer sides with the rebellious peasants and leads the “Black Troop” against princes and nobility. While the movement initially gathers strength, it eventually falls apart due to internal tensions, violence, and betrayal. The uprisings are crushed, Geyer falls victim to an assassination, and the Peasants’ War ends in bloody defeat.

Everyman

The play is a modern mystery play about the death of a rich, selfish man. The wealthy Everyman leads a wicked life and is unexpectedly summoned by the Death to appear before God’s court. In his final hour, his lovers, friends, and relatives abandon him, and he realizes that all material possessions are fleeting. At the last minute, he finds faith, repents his sins, and is saved by God’s grace.

The Robbers

In “Die Räuber” (The Robbers), Karl turns his back on his father, outraged by his stricness, and becomes the leader of a band of robbers to fight against social injustice. His brother Franz plots to steal the inheritance and manipulates their father and others. Betrayal, violence, and love entangle the characters until Karl’s idealism and Franz’s selfishness culminate in a decisive confrontation that reveals guilt, remorse, and the destructive power of human passion.

Hamlet

Prince Hamlet learns from the ghost of his deceased father that his uncle Claudius murdered him in order to take the throne. Hamlet vacillates between revenge and doubt, feigns madness, observes intrigues at court, and tests loyalties. In a web of deception, duels, and retribution, mistrust and lust for power lead to betrayal, death, and destruction, ultimately shattering the royal family.

Transfiguration

“Die Wandlung” (Transfiguration) tells the story of Friedrich, a war volunteer who goes into World War I full of idealism. At the front, he is confronted with death and senselessness. Wounded, he returns home, becomes a political activist, and participates in revolutionary plans. But here, too, he experiences violence, betrayal, and failure. In the end, Friedrich realizes that true change is not possible through coercion, but through an inner moral transformation of the individual.

Masses and Men

A young revolutionary returns from war to find a society that has fallen into indifference and violence. Desperate, he searches for meaning and moral guidance, while the people around him become part of a manipulable, emotionally cold mass. Driven by outrage and powerlessness, he fights for responsibility, humanity, and rebellion—but the masses seem stronger than the individual.

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In 1910, director Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) realized his innovative and Europe-wide sensational concept of mass staging in Berlin for the first time with a production of Sophocles’ ancient tragedy “Oedipus Rex” adapted by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929). The play was staged in the arena of the Schumann Circus, thereby recalling the original amphitheater as a venue.

Käthe Kollwitz attended the premiere and, as she recorded in her diary, was deeply moved by its impact. Reinhardt experimented with a theatrical device that had interested the artist as a pictorial motif since her Peasants’ War cycle: the staging of crowds.

Looking at Kollwitz’s later works depicting mothers in the context of war—and comparing them with Reinhardt’s choreography of the people and the chorus as counterparts to “Oedipus Rex”—it becomes evident that this production likely inspired aspects of her own work.

exhibited works:

65

Ernst Stern
Sketch made during rehearsals for Aeschylus’ Oresteia
at the Zirkus Schumann/Großes Schauspielhaus in 1911/1919, directed by Max Reinhardt
undated

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

66

Emil Orlik
Chorus of Elders from “Oedipus Rex”
1910
(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Schumann Berlin, 1910)

Crayon lithograph in black

Berlin City Museum Foundation

The “chorus” in ancient drama occupies a central position between the main characters and the people. It represents the average person and acts as a representative of the people, whose concerns it voices to the protagonists. At the same time, the chorus comments on the most important stages of the action.

67

Emil Orlik
The People Storming the Palace from “King Oedipus”
1910
(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Schumann Berlin, 1910)

Crayon lithograph in black

Berlin City Museum Foundation

Emil Orlik (1870–1932) attended rehearsals for the performance of “Oedipus Rex” at Circus Schumann and captured particularly impressive moments of the production in sketches. He then translated these into lithographs.
He was particularly interested in the contrast between a ruler and the masses of excited people: the plague-stricken people beg their king Oedipus for help. In ancient times, the dialogical structure of drama developed historically through the separation of a protagonist from the crowd.

68

Emil Orlik
Teiresias and the angry mob from “Oedipus Rex”
1910
(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Schumann Berlin, 1910)

Crayon lithograph in black

Berlin City Museum Foundation

After the premiere of “Oedipus Rex,” Käthe Kollwitz particularly emphasized the violent waving of the suffering people. Here, the blind seer Teiresias approaches the palace with the angry crowd in front of it. He will reveal to Oedipus the truth about his fateful role in the tragedy.

69

Oskar Kokoschka
Max Reinhardt
1919

Crayon lithograph

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) was a significant figure in Berlin theater history after 1900. In addition to his innovative productions at the Schumann Circus, he was also committed to technical innovations such as the revolving stage and new lighting systems.

70

Hermann Haller
Impressions of Tilla Durieux
1917

Bronze

Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

71

Oskar Kokoschka
Tilla Durieux (en face)
1920

Crayon lithograph

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

Until 1911, Tilla Durieux (1880–1971) was one of the stars of Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) ensemble at the Deutsches Theater. In the 1910 production of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex at the Zirkus Schumann, she played the female lead role of Queen Jocasta, a female protagonist who was addressed as a powerful figure by the chorus and the crowd.
Käthe Kollwitz was particularly impressed by the actress during a reading at the Salon Paul Cassirer in 1917. However, Durieux’s stage performances did not meet with her unreserved approval.

72

Ernst Stern
Sketches made during rehearsals for “Oedipus Rex”
1910
(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Schumann Berlin, 1910)

Pencil, colored crayon

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

On “Oedipus Rex”

In 1910, Käthe Kollwitz was an enthusiastic witness to the sensational premiere of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” at the Schumann Circus. Impressed, she wrote in her diary:

“The Oedipus performance on November 7. Absolutely magnificent, absolutely tremendous. Even if it wasn’t Sophoclean and not ancient, even if it was circus style (‘King Oedipus in Karlshorst’) – it was still new, exciting, colossal in its dimensions, tragic in its effect. The people, after hearing the news of Jocasta’s death, were thrown back and forth at the palace like roaring surf. The maelstrom. Then, when the blinded Oedipus appears, the sighing cry with which the people recoil back out of the arena. Oedipus, when he spoke to the chorus from his lofty height, just as he saw the chorus only as a dim mass, seemed to hear it, only indistinctly, only half-willingly, with the annoyingly impatient expression of a man who hears what he does not like. Then his cries as he comes out of the palace, his stunned lament. Jocasta with her blood-red mouth, stretching out both arms horizontally, seeing the inevitable. / And finally, the applause, worthy of such a performance. / It lifted me up for days.”

73

Emil Orlik
In front of the palace from “Oedipus Rex”
1910
(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Schumann Berlin, 1910)

Gouache

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Emil Orlik (1870–1932) was just as fascinated by Max Reinhardt’s (1873–1943) production of “Oedipus Rex” at Circus Schumann as Käthe Kollwitz was. His depiction of a performance in front of an audience reveals the innovative nature of Reinhardt’s concept: the performance took place in the midst of the spectators, thus largely eliminating the separation between the audience and the stage. The spectators thus participated in the play as “the people,” so to speak.

74

Emil Orlik
Max Reinhardt at rehearsal
1910

Etching

Private collection, Berlin

75

Karl Hubbuch
Rehearsal at the Große Schauspielhaus
1919

Etching

Berlin City Museum Foundation

Karl Hubbuch’s (1891–1979) etching shows how impressed Berlin audiences were with the new Großes Schauspielhaus, completed in 1919 following the conversion of the Schumann Circus. Poelzig’s (1869–1936) architecture was perceived as fantastic, “like a piece of the Arabian fairy tale world.” The auditorium seated more than 3,000 people.
Hubbuch depicts a rehearsal for Aeschylus’ ancient tragedy “Oresteia,” with which Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) inaugurated the new theater on November 28, 1919, before an invited audience.

Circus Schumann

The building was constructed in 1865 as Berlin’s first market hall, but it was not well received by the public and was therefore closed again after a few months. In 1873, it was converted into a permanent circus building. Circus Renz performed there until 1897 and increased the capacity of the auditorium to over 5,000 seats. In 1899, Circus Schumann moved in, closing in 1918. From the winter of 1910, Max Reinhardt used the large stage and the many seats for his idea of arena theater.

76

Hans Poelzig (Design)
Schumann Circus/Großes Schauspielhaus Berlin
Architectural model 1990

Plastic, veneered wood, cardboard, wire, lamps

Berlin City Museum Foundation

Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) had two plays staged at the Schumann Circus with spectacular success thanks to his innovative concept of mass staging: Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus Rex” in 1910 and the world premiere of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s (1874–1929) mystery play “Jedermann” in 1911.
While another ancient play, Aeschylus’ “Oresteia,” was also running at the circus in 1911 to great acclaim, Reinhardt met the architect Hans Poelzig (1869–1936). Together with him, he developed the idea of converting this venue into the Großes Schauspielhaus (Grand Theater). The renovation was opened to great acclaim in 1919 with Aeschylus’ “Oresteia.” Käthe Kollwitz probably also attended the inauguration.

Großes Schauspielhaus

After spectacular guest performances at Circus Schumann in 1910 and 1911 with the plays “Oedipus Rex,” “Oresteia,” and “Jedermann,” Max Reinhardt attempted to establish this form of theater, in which the audience surrounds a circular stage, in Berlin.
Reinhardt took over the circus building and had it redesigned by architect Hans Poelzig into the Großes Schauspielhaus (Grand Theater). The expressionist-style renovation created the most modern theater in Europe at the time, with 3,200 seats and innovative technology. The impressive renovation was inaugurated with a revival of “The Oresteia.” To ensure financial success, the building became a revue theater in the 1920s, shaping the decade.

On “Everyman”

After attending a performance of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s (1874–1929) mystery play “Jedermann” (Everyman), which was staged at the Schumann Circus, Käthe Kollwitz wrote to her son Hans in January 1912:

“In the evening we went to see Jedermann. […] I thought it was wonderful, and Moissi in particular was enchantingly charming and spirited. […] This role seems to have been made for him. He plays Hamlet, but here he is the spoiled, beautiful, charmingly weak young man who finds dying so terribly difficult. How he finally understands what dying means and that none of his earthly pleasures remain, how he takes off his thick gold chain and throws it far away, his rings far away, with the expression of a spoiled, dear boy who feels that he is being treated very unfairly and is about to cry. It was all wonderful, absolutely wonderful. And in this naive spectacle, which operates with the Grim Reaper, angels, and devils as if, God knows, we weren’t living in the 20th century, one becomes—at least I do—so completely gripped by the horror of inexorable death.”

77

Käthe Kollwitz
The People
1923

Pencil

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

Käthe Kollwitz’s depiction of the suffering people during the war seems to be influenced by her viewing experience of the 1910 production of “Oedipus Rex.” After the performance, the artist described her impressions in her diary using vivid imagery. Years after her theater experience, she processed the despair of the war-torn people in her artwork.

78

Käthe Kollwitz
Blind People
1922/23

Charcoal

Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne

In the production of Oedipus Rex, Kollwitz was particularly impressed by the choreography of the masses of people surging in violent emotional turmoil. She wrote in her diary:
“The people, after hearing of Jocasta’s death, are thrown back and forth at the palace like roaring surf. The maelstrom.” Käthe Kollwitz’s depictions of the people suffering under the war seem to have been inspired by these visual impressions.

79

Käthe Kollwitz
The Mothers
Sheet 6 from the series War
1922

Woodcut

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

80

Käthe Kollwitz
The People
Sheet 7 from the series War
1921/22

Woodcut

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

81

Käthe Kollwitz
The Survivors
1923

Crayon and brush lithography and drypoint

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

What Kollwitz’s “mothers” silently convey to us as viewers in front of the picture is expressed as a demand on the poster. In view of the horrors that even the survivors of a war have to endure, there can only be one motto: War on war!
Kollwitz addresses this demand to the audience, to whom she assigns the power to act—much like the people standing before Oedipus and demanding that he put an end to their misery.

82

Käthe Kollwitz
Tower of Mothers
1937/38

Bronze

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

Even when she created the woodcut The Mothers for her series War, the artist had the idea of also designing the composition as a three-dimensional sculpture. When the signs of another war began to multiply in 1937/38, she translated the image idea into sculpture.
Once again, she arranged the group of mothers with a leading woman in such a way that they confront us – similar to the chorus and the people accusing King Oedipus. We, the viewers, are thus placed in the position of the rulers, who have the power either to attack the children under the protection of their mothers or, on the contrary, to take their side and prevent war.

83

Käthe Kollwitz
Soldiers’ Wives Waving Farewell
1937/38

Bronze

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

A comparison with Emil Orlik’s (1870–1932) graphic work “Chor der Ältesten” (Choir of Elders) reveals similarities with Käthe Kollwitz’s composition of the sculpture. The artist recapitulates an experience from the First World War in which women and children wave goodbye to a departing train carrying soldiers, among whom are their husbands and fathers who have been called up for military service.
Viewers take the place of the soldiers and feel the pain of parting and the fear of the families left behind.

brief introduction to the authors:

Emil Orlik

(Prag 1870–1932 Berlin)

After studying in Munich and working independently in Prague, Orlik was appointed head of the graphic arts class at the Berlin School of Arts and Crafts in 1905. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and made a name for himself as a portraitist of numerous figures from the performing and visual arts. Orlik also created designs for stage sets and costumes. He undertook numerous long-distance journeys and was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints.

Alfred Roller

(Brünn 1864–1935 Wien)

Born into a family of artists, Alfred Roller studied at the Vienna Academy and became a co-founder of the Vienna Secession in 1897. Until 1903, he worked as a teacher at the School of Applied Arts, then moved to the Vienna State Opera as head of set design, where he established the idea of the scenic Gesamtkunstwerk (complete work of art) together with Gustav Mahler. In 1909, Roller became director of the School of Applied Arts in Vienna, at the same time beginning his long-standing collaboration with Max Reinhardt in Berlin.

Ernst Stern

(Bukarest 1876–1954 London)

After studying at the Munich Art Academy, Stern initially worked as an illustrator for the well-known magazines “Jugend” and “Simplicissimus”. In 1905, Stern moved to Berlin and became a member of the Secession. He quickly rose to become chief set designer at the Reinhardt Theatres, and in the 1920s designed sets for operas, revues, and films. Stern continued to work as a visual artist and created several portfolios of prints. After 1933, Stern emigrated to London.

Hermann Haller

(Bern 1880 – 1950 Zürich)

After studying architecture and painting in Stuttgart and Munich, Haller turned to sculpture in Rome in 1905. There he developed an interest in Etruscan art, which influenced his understated sculptures. A stay in Paris brought him into the circle of the Café du Dome around Henri Matisse. With the outbreak of World War I, Haller moved to Zurich, but also lived in Berlin intermittently between 1921 and 1923.

Karl Hubbuch

(Karlsruhe 1891 – 1979 Karlsruhe)

Hubbuch studied art in Karlsruhe and Berlin until 1914, specializing in printmaking. After 1918, he began to process his experiences from World War I artistically. In 1928, he was appointed professor at the State Art School in Karlsruhe and became a member of the Association of Revolutionary Artists. Under the National Socialists, his professional activities were restricted in 1933. In 1948, he became a professor at the Art Academy in Karlsruhe.

Oskar Kokoschka

(Pöchlarn 1886 – 1980 Montreux)

After studying at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna, Kokoschka moved to Berlin in 1910 and became part of Herward Walden’s Sturm gallery circle. After World War I, he lived alternately in Vienna and Berlin. In 1934, he emigrated via Prague to England and lived mainly in Switzerland after 1945. His work includes numerous portraits in which his unique expressionism is combined with realistic tendencies.

Hugo Lederer

(Znaim 1871 – 1940 Berlin)

After training in arts and crafts, Lederer worked in Berlin from 1893 onwards. From 1900 onwards, his beautifully sculpted, Art Nouveau-influenced figures were joined by stylized monumental sculptures, which made him one of the most sought-after commissioned sculptors in the German Empire. He greatly admired the dancer Anna Pavlova and created several depictions of her, the most popular of which was the sculpture with the feeding deer.

plays in brief:

Everyman

The play is a modern mystery play about the death of a rich, selfish man. The wealthy Everyman leads a wicked life and is unexpectedly summoned by the Death to appear before God’s court. In his final hour, his lovers, friends, and relatives abandon him, and he realizes that all material possessions are fleeting. At the last minute, he finds faith, repents his sins, and is saved by God’s grace.

Oresteia

Edited by Karl Gustav Vollmoeller, 1905

Aeschylus’ “Oresteia” depicts a dark family drama: King Agamemnon returns victorious from Troy – but his wife Clytemnestra murders him in revenge for sacrificing their daughter. Their son Orestes, driven by duty and guilt, in turn kills his mother. The play culminates in a court of the gods that replaces retribution with justice, marking the transition from bloody revenge to civilized justice.

Oedipus Rex

Edited by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1910

In Sophocles’ drama, King Oedipus rules over Thebes. When the city is threatened by a plague, he desperately searches for the culprit. In his search, he uncovers a terrible secret: he himself has killed his father and unknowingly married his mother. The tragedy shows how the human quest for truth and control meets with inescapable fate.

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Käthe Kollwitz loved to dance. However, it is little known that she took interest in professional dance. Even before her nieces performed as dancers under the stage names Katta Sterna (1897–1984) and Maria Solveg (1907–1993), the artist met the Viennese modern dancer Grete Wiesenthal (1885–1970) in 1910. The two women remained in contact whenever Wiesenthal visited Berlin.

In 1910, Kollwitz attended a guest performance by the famous Russian Ballet at the “Theater des Westens”. Since 1909, the troupe’s performances had captivated many modern artists of the Berlin Secession and inspired them in their own work. Although Kollwitz did not devote any artworks to dance, she enjoyed attending dance performances, including those by her nieces. At the time, the press compared the emerging style of expressive dance, which Kollwitz followed with great interest, to the expressive gestures in her own artistic work.

exhibited works: 

84

Milly Steger
Dancer
circa 1920

Bronze

Karl H. Knauf Collection, Berlin

In addition to her monumental figures, sculptor Milly Steger (1881–1948) was known for her elegantly moving, dancing female figures. She also created busts of actresses from Max Reinhardt’s ensemble, such as Gertrud Eysoldt (1870–1955) and Helene Thimig (1889–1974).

85

Ernst Stern
Figurines (costume designs) for “Die Grüne Flöte” (The Green Flute)
1916
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1916)

Pen and ink

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In 1916, Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) directed the premiere of the ballet “The Green Flute” at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. The plot of the performance was penned by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791).
Two of the leading roles were danced by Kollwitz’s niece Katta Sterna (Prince Sing-Ling) and Ernst Matray (Wizard Wu), who later became the husband of her youngest niece Maria Solveg.
This well-rehearsed dance duo had already performed a piece choreographed by Matray (1891–1978) at the beginning of April 1916, entitled “Ein Märchen” (A Fairy Tale) to music by Alexander (Sándor) László (1895–1970) on the stage of the Kammerspiele, which was seen by at least Käthe Kollwitz’s mother and Lisbeth Stern.

86

Ernst Stern
Set design from Hofmannsthal’s “Die Grüne Flöte” (The Green Flute)
1916
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1916)

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

87

Ernst Stern
Set design from Hofmannsthal’s “Die Grüne Flöte” (The Green Flute)
1916
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1916)

Pastel, watercolor

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

88

Ernst Stern
Set design from Hofmannsthal’s “Die Grüne Flöte” (The Green Flute)
1916

Mixed media

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Käthe Kollwitz saw a performance of the ballet pantomime at the Wintergarten in January 1917 and made only a brief note about her niece’s dancing: “Katrine is very graceful.”
From November 1925, Maria Solveg—who often performed with her sister—was also to appear as Princess Fay-yen in performances of “Die Grüne Flöte.”

89

Ernst Stern
Scene from “Das Mirakel” (The Miracle)
undated

(Production by Max Reinhardt at Circus Busch Berlin, 1914)

Mixed media

Theatre Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

Unlike the pantomime “Sumurûn,” the staging of Karl Gustav Vollmoeller’s (1878–1948) medieval-style mystery song and dance play “Das Mirakel” was another major project by Max Reinhardt (1873–1943). With an enormous investment in personnel and stage technology, the director premiered this stage work without spoken words in London. The production was an international success and enjoyed numerous revivals until the 1930s.

90

Ernst Stern
Figurines (costume designs) for “Das Mirakel” (The Miracle)
undated

(Directed by Max Reinhardt, premiered in London, 1911)

Ink, watercolor

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

The play “Das Mirakel,” with sets designed by Ernst Stern (1876–1954), did not premiere in Germany until 1914 at the Zirkus Busch in Berlin. Käthe Kollwitz saw the play in the same year together with her son Hans. She was apparently rather critical of pseudo-religious motifs, although one can also see reflections of some scenes in her later woodcuts.
Ernst Matray (1891–1978), who later married Kollwitz’s youngest niece (stage name Maria Solveg), danced the role of the shady minstrel in “Das Mirakel.”

91

Ernst Stern
The Sheikh’s Bedroom from “Sumurûn”
1910

(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Kammerspiele of the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1910)

Crayon drawing

Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne

In 1910, Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) commissioned Grete Wiesenthal (1885–1970) to choreograph the Oriental-inspired dance pantomime “Sumurûn” by Friedrich Freksa (1882–1955), with music by Victor Hollaender (1866–1940). Ernst Stern (1876–1954) was responsible for the stage design and costume design. Wiesenthal also danced the title role.
While Kollwitz’s sons saw the performance immediately, Kollwitz did not see the piece until 1918. From 1924 onwards, her nieces Katta Sterna (1897–1984) and Maria Solveg (1907–1993) also danced in this piece, which was a great international success for Max Reinhardt.

92

Ernst Oppler
Les Sylphides
circa 1909

Lithograph

German Dance Archive Cologne / SK Foundation for Culture

When Käthe Kollwitz was invited by the Berlin Secession to a performance of the Ballets Russes at the Theater des Westens in May 1910, she saw a mixed program of various ballets, probably in excerpts.
This included the short ballet Les Sylphides, choreographed by Mikhail Fokine (1880–1942) to piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), which has no plot.

93

Ernst Oppler
Les Sylphides (Behind the Scene)
Circa 1915

Lithograph

German Dance Archive Cologne / SK Foundation for Culture

94

Ernst Oppler
Les Sylphides (Behind the Scene)
Circa 1915

Drawing

German Dance Archive Cologne / SK Foundation for Culture

95

Hugo Lederer
Anna Pavlova Feeding a Deer
1928

Bronze

Karl H. Knauf Collection, Berlin

The Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) was a member of the famous Ballets Russes and an international star. She had been friends with the sculptor Hugo Lederer (1871–1940) since the 1920s. She worked briefly in his studio and, under his guidance, created two portrait statuettes of herself, which were made in ceramic. Lederer himself portrayed the dancer in a genre scene that paid homage to Pavlova’s famous pointe work in an unusual pose.

96

Ernst Oppler
Les Sylphides (Behind the Scenes)
circa 1915

Oil on canvas

German Dance Archive Cologne / SK Foundation for Culture

The Ballets Russes company was founded in Paris in 1909 by impresario Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929) with famous ballet stars from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, such as Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978), Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950), and Anna Pavlova (1881–1931), and toured throughout Europe. Ernst Oppler (1867–1929)—whose brother Alexander (1869–1937), a sculptor, was a close acquaintance of Käthe Kollwitz—was one of the artists of the Berlin Secession for whom the Russian dancers’ performance in Berlin in 1909 was a profound experience. Today, he is considered the most important chronicler of stage dance in the 20th century.

97

Georg Kolbe
Dance Studies after Vaslav Nijinsky
1912

Pen and brush

Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

The dancer Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950) modeled for the sculptor longer than his colleague. Numerous sketches of movement sequences and detailed drawings testify to Kolbe’s (1877–1947) intensive study of the dance expression of this exceptional artist.

98

Georg Kolbe
Dancer Nijinsky
1919

Bronze

Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

The sculpture is a reworking of an earlier version from 1913, which was created immediately after the star dancer of the Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950), visited Kolbe’s studio. The Ballets Russes gave a long series of performances at the Kroll Opera in Berlin in 1912.

99

Georg Kolbe
Tamara Karsavina
1912

Brush, pencil, and ink

Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

The dancer Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978) was one of the stars of the Ballets Russes company. She and her dance partner Nijinsky (1889–1950) visited the sculptor in his studio in December 1912, where Kolbe (1877–1947) sketched movement studies of the two. There are also photographs from the sculptor’s studio showing Karsavina posing in costume. Using both models, Kolbe developed a group of figures for the Heinrich Heine monument in Frankfurt in 1913.

100

Josef Lorenzl
Caged Bird
Niddy Impekoven in a butterfly costume
1925

Porcelain, painted (manufacturer: Goldscheider, Vienna)

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

In April 1920, Käthe Kollwitz wrote in her diary: “Saw Niddy Impekoven dance. Very talented. Great skill, temperament, charm.” Niddy Impekoven (1904–2002) was considered a dancing prodigy. After training in classical ballet, she turned to the then emerging art of expressive dance and, from 1918 onwards, developed solo programs for herself, including her choreography “Der gefangene Vogel” (The Caged Bird) to music by Bruno Hartl (1880–1939).

101

August Macke
Dancer
1914

Opaque colors, over washed ink drawing

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

The ballet Le Carnaval had an extremely stimulating effect on visual artists, as this work on paper by August Macke (1887–1914) shows. In addition to Macke and Ernst Oppler (1867–1929), Max Pechstein (1881–1955) also produced graphic works and a painting dedicated to this ballet.

102

Ludwig Kainer
Tamara Karsavina in the “Polovtsian Dances”
undated

Lithograph, hand-colored

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

In addition to classical dances, the Ballets Russes also had pieces with folkloric elements in their repertoire. The “Polovtsian Dances” to music by Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) originated in the opera “Prince Igor,” and Fokine (1880–1942) had reworked them into a ballet in its own right.

103

Ludwig Kainer
Adolph Bolm in the “Polovtsian Dances”
undated

Lithograph, hand-colored

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

The “Polovtsian Dances,” with their wildness and supposed “barbarism,” were one of the showpieces of the Ballets Russes.

104

Ernst Oppler
Adolph Bolm in the “Polovtsian Dances”
1914

Pencil and ink

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

Käthe Kollwitz particularly appreciated the “Polovtsian Dances” in the Ballets Russes performance she attended, which were always one of the highlights of the ensemble’s tour program. During the Berlin guest performance in 1910, Mikhail Fokine (1880–1942) took on the role in the “Polovtsian Dances” that was actually the signature role of Adolph Bolm (1884–1951). The study by Ernst Oppler (1867–1929), which sketches Bolm in motion on stage, was created during another performance, but it still conveys the impression that Käthe Kollwitz had at the time.

105

Ernst Oppler
Le Carnaval
circa 1917

Etching, drypoint

German Dance Archive Cologne / SK Foundation for Culture

On May 20, 1910, one day before Käthe Kollwitz saw the Ballets Russes perform a mixed program on stage, a new ballet choreographed by Mikhail Fokine (1880–1942) premiered at the Theater des Westens. Le Carnaval, based on the piano suite of the same name by Robert Schumann (1810–1856) and featuring costumes by Léon Bakst (1866–1924), is one of the company’s most legendary pieces. Ernst Oppler (1867–1929) depicts dancers Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978) and Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950) here.

106

Paul Poiret
Vera Fokina and Mikhail Fokine in “Cléopâtre”
undated

Ink and watercolor

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

The 1910 program of the Ballets Russes also included the ballet “Cleopatra.” The choreography was also by Mikhail Fokine (1880–1942) and was based on music by several composers, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) and Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881).

107

Paul Scheurich
Mikhail Fokine and Vera Fokina in “Cléopâtre”
undated

Porcelain, colored

John Neumeier Foundation, Hamburg

Scheurich’s enthusiasm for the Ballets Russes’ guest performance in Berlin inspired him to create several porcelain dance figures, including a five-piece group that was produced by the Meissen manufactory. The sculptor succeeded in precisely characterizing the various members of the ensemble with his porcelain sculptures.

brief introduction to the authors:

Ernst Stern

(Bukarest 1876–1954 London)

After studying at the Munich Art Academy, Stern initially worked as an illustrator for the well-known magazines “Jugend” and “Simplicissimus”. In 1905, Stern moved to Berlin and became a member of the Secession. He quickly rose to become chief set designer at the Reinhardt Theatres, and in the 1920s designed sets for operas, revues, and films. Stern continued to work as a visual artist and created several portfolios of prints. After 1933, Stern emigrated to London.

Hugo Lederer

(Znaim 1871 – 1940 Berlin)

After training in arts and crafts, Lederer worked in Berlin from 1893 onwards. From 1900 onwards, his beautifully sculpted, Art Nouveau-influenced figures were joined by stylized monumental sculptures, which made him one of the most sought-after commissioned sculptors in the German Empire. He greatly admired the dancer Anna Pavlova and created several depictions of her, the most popular of which was the sculpture with the feeding deer.

Ludwig Kainer

(München 1885 – 1967 Paris)

Kainer initially began studying medicine, but turned to the fine arts during a stay in Paris. Here, in 1909, he also made contact with the Ballets Russes, which led to an artistic collaboration. Kainer created spirited depictions of the ballet troupe with their imaginative costumes. From 1910 onwards, he lived in Berlin and worked as a commercial artist and illustrator. Later, he worked in film and as a costume and stage designer. In 1933, Kainer first emigrated to Switzerland and later moved to Paris.

Georg Kolbe

(Waldheim 1877 – 1947 Berlin)

Kolbe initially studied painting in Dresden, Munich, and Paris, before turning to sculpture in Rome around 1900. He moved to Berlin in 1904, where he made his breakthrough in 1912 with his sculpture “Dancer.” Kolbe influenced the “expressive sculpture” of the period before World War I with his restrained, moving nude figures and soon became one of the most successful German sculptors. During the Nazi era, his works were accepted, although he was not one of the regime’s favorites.

Erwin Lang

(Wien 1886 – 1962 Wien)

Lang attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts from 1903 onwards, and by 1906 he was already working as a stage designer in Vienna, later followed by further work for Max Reinhardt in Berlin. Lang was a member of the Hagenbund artists’ group and was known for his woodcuts, some of which featured his first wife, Grete Wiesenthal, as their motif.

Josef Lorenzl

(Wien 1892 – 1950 Wien)

Lorenzl initially worked as a metal caster in a bronze casting workshop and later created dance-like figures in the Art Deco style as a sculptor and ceramist. The sculpture “Gefangener Vogel” (Captive Bird), created for the Viennese manufacturer Goldscheider and based on a dance figure by Niddy Impekoven, became his most famous work.

August Macke

(Meschede 1887 – 1914 Champagne)

Macke began studying at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1904, accompanied by numerous study trips. He worked temporarily in Lovis Corinth’s studio in Berlin. In 1910, he developed a friendship with Franz Marc, and later with Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, and Alexej Jawlensky. Macke joined the “Blauer Reiter” artists’ association in Munich and helped shape Rhenish Expressionism. Macke lost his life in World War I.

Ernst Oppler

(Hannover 1867-1929 Berlin)

After studying art at the Munich Academy, Oppler enjoyed early success with works in the style of the Munich School, but soon became a member of the Munich and Berlin Secession. During a stay in London lasting several years, he devoted himself intensively to the technique of etching and, from 1900 onwards, developed an impressionistic style of painting. After moving to Berlin in 1904, he focused intensively on the motif of dance, with his technically sophisticated etchings attracting particular attention.

Paul Poiret

(Paris 1879 – 1944 Paris)

Poiret was one of the most famous fashion designers of the Art Deco period. After completing his apprenticeship at several Parisian fashion houses, he set up his own business in 1903 with an exclusive salon. The performances of the Ballets Russes in Paris inspired him to create his own Far Eastern-style designs.

Paul Scheurich

(New York 1883 – 1945 Brandenburg/Havel)

Scheurich came to Berlin as a child and received a brief academic education there. He created his first models for porcelain sculptures around 1910 for the Schwarzburg workshops. With figures in reduced forms, he brought porcelain sculpture into the modern era. His works were produced in the manufactories of Berlin and Meissen. Scheurich was also active as a draftsman and graphic artist.

Milly Steger

(Rheinberg 1881 – 1948 Berlin)

Steger first studied at the School of Applied Arts in Eberfeld and later received private lessons from the sculptor Karl Janssen from Düsseldorf. From 1910 onwards, she lived in Hagen, where she created monumental architectural sculptures. Her work was complemented by independent pieces that often incorporated elements of dance. From 1928 onwards, Steger taught at the teaching institute of the Association of Berlin Women Artists.

plays in brief:

Cleopatre

Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen, seduces powerful men, manipulating politics and love to her advantage. Intrigues, passions, and rivalries come to a head—a game of power, seduction, and tragedy that ends in death.

Les Sylphides

In “Les Sylphides”, a young man wanders through a foggy forest at night. He encounters shy sylphs, fleeting spirits of the air, who circle around him and seduce him. In the end, he remains alone, caught between dream and reality, longing and transience.

Carnaval

“Carnaval” depicts episodes from a masked ball: scenes full of dancing, flirting, jealousy, and comedy alternate. Lovers encounter rivals, masked figures play pranks, and festivities escalate into chaos.

Sumurun

“Sumurun” tells the story of a traveling theater troupe that arrives at the court of of a Far Eastern ruler. The old director desires the young dancer Sumurun, who, however, loves a young actor. The ruler himself also desires her. Secret meetings, jealousy, and abuse of power drive the characters against each other. When intrigues are uncovered, desire and rivalry lead to betrayal, murder, and a deadly end.

The green Flute

Ballet pantomine

In „The Green Flute“, a young prince receives a magic flute that enchants people. In his search for love, he encounters a sorcerer who pits power against desire. Deceptions, seductions, and trials lead the prince to realize that true fulfillment comes not from magic, but from inner maturity. The plot unfolds wordlessly through dance and gestures.

The Miracle

The young nun Maria leaves her convent out of a longing for life and love. Meanwhile, an angel takes her form and keeps her place. Maria finds herself in need and temptation in the city, but eventually returns to the convent – tired, hurt, but unbroken. “The Miracle” tells an impressive story of grace, temptation, and the power of divine mercy.

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