Producer
Leopold Hoesch
Director
Niels Negendank
Producer
Nicholas von Brauchitsch
Genre
Culture
Broadcaster
ZDFtheaterkanal / 3sat / ZDFdokukanal
Length
1 x 30'
Editor
Horst Jaquet & Lars Roland
Year
2004
Theatrescapes
Theater Heilbronn

In addition to Heilbronn's salt, Germany's largest red wine-growing region also makes the city on the Neckar famous beyond the region. But the name Heilbronn became world-famous through a person who was never in the city: the Käthchen von Heilbronn, the literary figure of Heinrich von Kleist.

Since 1844, Heilbronn has had the first permanent theatre founded by a citizens' initiative. The Heilbronn public is very devoted to its theatre, to this day the citizens are strongly committed and the number of subscribers is the highest in Germany. Esther Schweins introduces the Heilbronn theatre, reports on the European premiere of "Corpus Christi", which made waves due to protests by militant Christians and politicians, and tells of the successful guest performance tours to Moscow and Israel during Klaus Wagner's 23 years as artistic director. An excursion to the nearby Götzenburg, the former ancestral seat of Götz von Berlichingen, establishes the connection to the region, and Alexandra Freifrau von Berlichingen, managing director of the Burgfestspiele, provides an insight into the annual drama spectacle held there.

Since 2003, the former managing director of the "Theater der Welt" festival, Martin Roeder-Zerndt, has been the artistic director of the Stadttheater Heilbronn. He reports on his new tasks. In addition, conversations with a Kleist researcher, with actors and loyal subscribers, as well as archive material and production excerpts reveal the history of the city and the theatre.

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