100 years of Bertolt Brecht
By Eric Singh
BERLIN — Germany is going through a Bertolt Brecht "epidemic". Old Brecht would have laughed his guts out if he had seen all the activities sweeping throughout this country to mark his 100th birthday on February 10, and heard himself acclaimed from all sections as the great son of Deutschland.
What a display of political opportunism! Even the right-wing prime minister of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, now talks about bringing this prodigal son back home to Bavaria.
Stoiber's statement is surprising. Germans, especially the arch-conservatives whom he represents, are notoriously unforgiving when someone from their ranks crosses the line. All sorts of abuse was heaped on Brecht, who remained a traitor until his 100th birthday.
In fact, after 1989, one of the first acts of the "victorious" west was to rename one of the pleasure boats plying the waters of East Berlin bearing the name Bertolt Brecht. This met a wave of protest by the local population. It was explained away by replacing all the boats bearing names of individuals with names of places.
The authorities tried to make amends by naming the intercity railway connection between Berlin and Augsburg the Bertolt Brecht Express. And his birthplace Augsburg spared no cost to honour their great son.
Brecht and Marlene Dietrich committed the sin of crossing over. Both of these two great German screen and theatre personalities left the land of their birth to oppose the scourge of fascism in the 1930s. The hostility against them knew no bounds.
Apart from entertaining troops fighting the Germans, Marlene Dietrich marched at the head of the US army that entered a battle-scarred, defeated Germany. Postwar concerts by Dietrich in Germany were met with massive demonstrations. So horrid was the reception given to her, she vowed never to return to Germany again.
She died a few years ago and was buried in her native Berlin. Thousands of ordinary people flocked to the cemetery to pay their last respects to a brave woman. Even in death, official Germany showed its meanness. Neither the federal government in Bonn nor any of the states were represented at her funeral. A reception for the many international and national personalities to be given by the Berlin Senate was cancelled under pressure from above.
Brecht, the actor, writer, poet, director, producer, playwright and dramatist, was luckier than Dietrich. After exile, he was received with open arms by the German Democratic Republic in 1948. Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel, were charged with promoting theatre in East Berlin, and the result of their endeavours is the world-famous Berliner Ensemble, which bears the character of a shrine for theatre lovers throughout the world.
Brecht was horn in the Bavarian city of Augsburg on February 10, 1898. He attended grammar school and later began studies in medicine and natural science in Munich. He enthusiastically supported the outbreak of World War I and served in the armed forces for a while. Later, when reports began streaming in of the heavy toll of dead German soldiers (some of whom were close friends), a terrific change took place in his life.
Brecht revolted against the consequences of war; he fought with his lecturers and fellow bourgeois students. The view of the young Brecht, who was now openly criticising the war in newspapers, was increasingly influenced by what he saw.
One thing led to another, until Brecht was forced to flee Germany at the age of 35, when the Nazis grabbed power in 1933. By this time he was an established figure in the literary and theatre world. He left believing the Nazis would not be able to hold out for long. For this reason, he chose his venues of exile as close to Germany as possible.
But he was mistaken; the Nazis held out for 12 years in which they terrorised not only Germany but almost the whole of Europe. Brecht emigrated to the United States in 1941.
His exile there did not fulfil his expectations. His first reckoning with the film industry, Hangmen Also Die, failed because he attempted to introduce artistic and political interests into a commercially oriented "cultural industry".
Brecht could not cope up with Hollywood's methods. He was constantly under observation by the FBI. A day after he appeared before the notorious House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, Brecht and his family left the US and returned to Germany.
Brecht's death in 1956 was a blow to the world of performing art. But there were many collaborators and proteges to continue his work.
Brecht's decision to settle in the GDR influenced his work. This includes the importance the Berliner Ensemble attained, the spreading of his works, the adoption of his stage methods by most of the theatres and the effectiveness of his cultural-political reflection.
Every worthy dramatist of the post-Brecht generation in the GDR was schooled in Brecht. He and his works formed part of the curriculum in schools and institutes of higher learning, including universities. Brecht's methods and perceptions on theatre were important components in the training of budding actors, actresses and directors. Brecht's main rival was Shakespeare.
Brecht's influence is not confined to Germany. Since the early 1980s, the Brecht Centre (Brecht's former home) in Berlin has hosted annual seminars to coincide with his birthday. They are attended by Brecht followers and interpreters from all over the world.
Brecht has stood the test of time, confirming the opinion expressed by Professor Ghassan M. Maleh of Damascus at one Brecht seminar some years ago when he said: "I think we are unanimous in the belief that Brecht is an essential force in the development of culture in the 20th century. On the one hand, he shattered and shocked, and on the other he left behind a durable influence."
Is it any wonder that people, even reactionaries, are falling over themselves to be associated with this genius for whatever political gains?