Yesterday was another wonderful day in Leipzig. We visited
the Bach Museum and then saw our second performance, The Threepenny Opera. In
our free time between scheduled events I went to the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum
Leipzig, a free museum that follows the history of the Socialist Unity Party of
Germany (SED) under the German Democratic Republic. The museum was interesting
in that it mainly focused on the everyday aspects of life in former East
Germany. It had interactive and full-scale displays like that of a typical living room, original
images and footage of protests, and a prison transport vehicle. One wall was
covered with monitors showing surveillance footage of people on the street with
a description explaining how citizens were constantly watched and held under
suspicion by the government. It made me reflect on the Cold War in the United
States and how the government quietly surveyed citizens for fear of communist
espionage. Especially in our world of globalization and rapidly changing
technology, the exhibit was a solemn reminder of how it is essential to be
aware of governments’ powers and constantly defend individual human rights. Another
part of the exhibition I found fascinating was on immigration. The SED would
allow for people from other countries, socialist ones preferred, to come and
work temporarily in Germany. However, many workers stayed and brought their
families to live in Germany. These immigrants came from a variety of countries:
mainly Turkey, Greece, Korea, Vietnam, and Italy. This is how, According to the museum
description, this period represents the origin of the German xenophobia which persists today.
I liked how the exhibition made me think of Germany more as a multicultural
country, which reflects the diversity of people I see walking the streets of
Leipzig.
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| Museum Brochure and Postcard |
In the evening we saw The
Threepenny Opera, or Die
Dreigroschenoper in German, which tells the story of a cunning criminal,
Macheath, who is arrested multiple times, nearly executed, and finally pardoned
by the Queen. Representing socialist values and criticizing capitalism, the
opera depicts London during the Roaring Twenties. Due to its more radical
elements for its time, the opera was outlawed by the Nazis and the opera’s
Marxist creator Bertolt Brecht was forced to leave Germany. Although I am not
an expert on this piece, the performance itself was not a traditional opera,
but more of a play with spoken dialogue broken by some songs. The staging and the
costuming were the most creative and interesting part of the production. The makeup
made the actors look extremely pale with large dark eyes, perhaps a
commentary on poverty as most of the characters live on the streets of London.
There were minimal props including large letters that spelled out the opera
title at the beginning and that the actors moved around throughout the
performance to make other structures and furniture to interact with, including
a gallows. Though generally the performance was one of the strangest I have
seen and not one of my favorites, I recognize that it was a privilege to have
seen it and in Germany no less. In light of the production’s history of
censorship, it made me reflect upon how much has changed in Germany in a
relatively short amount of time from the Nazi regime to the SED to the present
all within a century.
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| The Stage Before the Performance |
At the end of the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig exhibition
there were free postcards with a particularly pertinent reminder
stating, “Warning! History can lead to insight and may cause increased
awareness.” Although it has become rather cliché, history education is
extremely important whether it is through a museum exhibit or a theatrical
interpretation for reminding people of their individual rights and working to
ensure they are not violated the same way again.
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| Wall Mural Depicting the Peaceful Revolution |
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