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"It's the way of things: the club opens in the East!"
For over 40 years, Dresden's "Herkuleskeule" has been commenting on political events in the GDR and after reunification in the old and new federal states.
The "Herkuleskeule" was founded in 1961 on the decision of Dresden's cultural functionaries; after the "Pfeffermühle" in Leipzig and the "Distel" in Berlin, the district city of Dresden was also to have a professional cabaret.
From the very beginning, the name of the "Herkuleskeule" was the program and it saw it as its task to hold up a mirror to the powerful of the SED.
It does this with the subversive power of Till Eulenspiegel.
Founded by Manfred Schubert and influenced by comedians such as Hans Glauche with his unforgettable "Gustav und Erich", it was later Wolfgang Stumph, Uwe Steimle, Günther Pölitz and Manfred Breschke who developed into well-known cabaret artists on the club boards.
Wolfgang Schaller joined the ensemble in 1970.
Above all, the cabaret pieces he wrote with Peter Ensikat, which were also performed at theaters in the East, made the "Herkuleskeule" a trademark for political cabaret in the GDR.