"Democracy needs culture to breathe"

Green shy people invited to the Theatrium Steinau.

On 3 October, the Greens invited Schlüchtern to the roundtable ‘Does democracy need culture to breathe?’, with Angela Dorn, Minister of Culture and Science in Hesse, Günther Koch, direct candidate of the Greens in constituency 42 and Detlef Heinichen, actor and head of the Theatrium Steinau. On 3 October, the Day of German Unity, Günther Koch took the opportunity to report on his work, impressions and experiences as a graduate pedagogue in the still young federal states. “I have also repeatedly noticed injury, fear and anger, but also a great willingness to change perspectives for children, adolescents and their families. There were strong feelings about the future. It has been described as unsafe, endangered and threatened. Careful and respectful interaction with each other was and still is the basis for understanding, productive work and successful political action.’ Born and raised in the GDR, Detlef Heinichen reported excitingly and vividly about his path to becoming an actor, ‘the GDR was very well positioned in terms of theatre, much better than the West, there were many schools for acting, music education or writing. Russia was also the great role model here, where a lot of cultural work was done. The theatre was not indoctrinated at the beginning, so they received a great education. However, with the expatriation of Wolf Biermann in 1976, the culture got a ‘knax’, the stage work became more difficult and one learned to stage between the lines,’ said Heinichen, ‘and when I was suspected of helping a friend escape, I was no longer allowed to work, I applied for leave and was able to leave the country in 1986’. The new beginning in the West was not easy for him, ‘I had to learn to walk first.’ He experienced the opening of the border as a historic moment for Germany, and believes that ‘the fall of the Wall was the best thing that could happen to this country, and, Heinichen smiled, ‘Steinau, the theatrium, was the best thing that happened to me.’ Angela Dorn draws the arc to war in Ukraine on the subject of culture, where the cultural heritage of Ukrainians is deliberately destroyed by Russian attacks, ‘we can see and sympathise with what happens when the cultural identity of a people is destroyed. ‘Culture is not just the icing on the cake, it is the stone on which everything stands’. According to all that has been said, one can also allow the reverse conclusion to be drawn that ‘culture needs democracy to breathe’. Angela Dorn emphasised her appreciation of the cultural workers in the countryside, of small stages such as the Theatrium, of the many associations that are committed to culture in the countryside. "They are enormously important because they create a whole, they need our support and support." All participants and the audience agreed that cooperation with stages and cultural sites with schools and daycare centres must be intensified in order to give children and young people a sense of the link between culture and democracy. Culture in Germany also includes the culture of remembrance, keeping alive the memory of the crimes of the National Socialists and actively dealing with the topic. Günther Koch pointed out in this context to his heart's concern, the transformation of the synagogue into Schlüchtern. "As a member of the board of the Friends of the Schlüchtern Synagogue, I support the creation of a place that will enable preservation and remembrance, but also a confrontation with horrors and atrocities, and where culture and democracy can be celebrated alive."Angela Dorn pledged her support for this project at the national level, in whatever constellation. The musicians Elmar Egold and Armin Engel, members of the Klezmer Freilach Ensemble Bad Orb, rounded off the evening with their ravishing music and thrilled the audience with their traditional folklore music, which sounded saddened in the field of tension between sky-high shouting and then again to death.  Finally, the Israeli song ‘Shalom Alechem, Peace for All’ was very appropriate and the audience agreed. One visitor said when she went out: “I've never seen such a great election event before.”