The photo shows a view of the meeting room. The rows of chairs for the council members are arranged in a semi-circle in ascending order. On the wall behind them is an installation showing the outline of the town of Idar-Oberstein with the coats of arms of the individual districts.

The decline of the German bourgeoisie

As part of the municipal theater program, the Altonaer Theater will present the play "Tadellöser & Wolff" on Friday, 14 April 2023, at 8 pm in the Idar-Oberstein Municipal Theatre. The play is the second part of the Kempowski saga. Axel Schneider, director of the Altonaer Theater, has adapted the nine-volume "German Chronicle" by Walter Kemposki for the stage and developed four productions from it. There will be a performance of the play at 7.30 pm.

While the first part of the Kempowski saga, "Aus großer Zeit" (From a Long Time), sheds light on the youth, family environment and experiences of his father Karl Kempowski in Rostock and at the front in the First World War between 1902 and 1918, the second part, "Tadellöser & Wolff", is dedicated to Walter Kempowski's memories of his childhood and youth between 1938 and 1945. In it, Kempowski, born in 1929, describes the decline of the German bourgeoisie using his own family history as an example. Confronting private idyll with political reality, the novel raises questions about the behavior of the middle classes in times of war and dictatorship. It documents the failure of an entire social class that knows nothing to counter the existential threat.

Walter Kempowski's father always said "Tadellöser & Wolff" when he thought something was good, just as he said "Miesnitzdörfer & Jenssen" on annoying occasions. And there really were many things that could be described as "Miesnitzdörfer" in the period from 1938 to 1945. For a while, the Kempowskis are doing well in these eventful years - until their comfortable thoughtlessness is overtaken by the socio-political catastrophe.

Tickets are available in advance at www.ticket-regional.de and at the usual advance booking offices. The box office opens at 7 pm. Due to energy-saving measures, the temperature in the Stadttheater is limited to 19 degrees Celsius.

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