A German Life - Theater in Josefstadt

German version by Sabine Pribil

But we didn't want to know it at all. After decades of silence, Brunhilde Pomsel spoke comprehensively for the first time at the age of 103 about her time as a stenographer and secretary to Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Although Pomsel worked for one of the greatest criminals in history and for the leadership elite of National Socialism, she always referred to herself as a "marginal figure" and completely "apolitical." Even in the last days of the war, she remained in the already destroyed city and sewed the flag of the official capitulation of Berlin in the bunker. After that, she was taken prisoner by the Soviets. Until the end, she insisted that she only learned about the Holocaust after the end of National Socialism.

English playwright Christopher Hampton has created an impressive theater text from the original conversations that Brunhilde Pomsel had with Christian Krönes, Olaf S. Müller, Roland Schrotthofer, and Florian Weigensamer for the film of the same name, "A German Life." Pomsel's life story raises the question of the personal responsibility of each individual for political events.

Director Andrea Breth places Brunhilde Pomsel's account in a poetically associative context of the time between 1929 and 1950. Together with musician Adam Benzwi, she weaves familiar hits, old folk songs, and burdened homeland songs into an atmospheric performance.

Alongside the 82-year-old Lore Stefanek, who was awarded the German Film Actor Award last year, Andrea Clausen and Fin Holzwart are also featured.

Cast:
Director: Andrea Breth
Set Design: Raimund Orfeo Voigt
Costumes: Jens Kilian
Musical Direction: Adam Benzwi
Dramaturgy: Barbara Nowotny
Lighting: Alexander Koppelmann

Brunhilde Pomsel: Lore Stefanek
On piano: Adam Benzwi
With: Andrea Clausen, Fin Holzwart, Peter Buchecker, Robert Chionis, Mark Rayal, Manfred Loydolt, Harald Denkmair, Marlene Blaschon, Sophia Buchmann, Tobias Egermann, Sophia Valerie Jelinek, Clara Lackner-Zinner, Ladislava Lyssenko, Paula Nittel, Noah Pardeller-Lingens, Alice Ruth Richter, Ella Schmid, Sofia Sullivan, Elisabeth Temel-Stiller.