With the Hamburg Ohnsorg Theater, the Schwerin Fritz Reuter Stage is one of two Low German professional ensembles in Germany. It was founded 95 years ago and survived two German dictatorships.
by Rainer Schobess
The first season of the Low German stage at the Mecklenburg State Theater begins on November 29, 1926. It is the Monday after the first Advent and the first play is the comedy "Stratenmusik" by Paul Schurek. Richard Spethmann is directing. The actor and singer comes from Altona near Hamburg and came to Schwerin via Schleswig, Wismar and Neustrelitz.
Theater up Platt popular in the 20s
Theater up Platt is very fashionable in the 1920s. As early as 1902 Richard Ohnsorg had founded his Dramatic Society in Hamburg, from which the Niederdeutsche Bühne Hamburg emerged in 1920. In that year, Rostock also gets a Low German stage, Stralsund gets a Plattdütsch Späldal and up in the north the Flensburger Speeldeel join forces.
A professional ensemble from the start
Richard Spethmann, who managed the Fritz Reuter stage from 1926 to 1958, was not just an actor and director. He also wrote Low German plays himself.Also in 1920, Richard Spethmann made his debut with a Low German production in Schwerin. Six years and 14 productions later, the Low German stage is firmly established under his direction at the Mecklenburg State Theater. So in Schwerin - unlike in northern Germany - a professional ensemble plays Low German theater right from the start. Well-known actors have been hired here over the years:Marga Heiden, Maria Besendahl, Anke Neumann, Gerd Micheel, Fritz Hollenbeck, Horst Dethloff, Rudolf Korf, Eberhard Bremer and Kurt Nolze.
Success with light entertainment in the Nazi era
After the global economic crisis in 1929, the Low German stage had to struggle with a drop in visitors and a lack of money. The ensemble is increasingly looking for audiences on trips to small towns and villages and plays comedies. This was also the case during the National Socialist era, when the stage mainly brought entertaining hits like Karl Bunje's "De Staffelnhaas" or August Hinrichs' "Swienkomedi". There is a last performance for the time being on March 12, 1945. Six months after Goebbels ordered the theaters to be closed, the Low German fairy tale "De gollen Kutsch" is performed again in Schwerin.
Propaganda against Low German in the GDR
Under the socialist rule of the GDR, the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne had to make concessions. With "Een Buer aft Maand" in 1959 she brings a play about a farmer who doesn't want to go into the LPG.The ensemble was given the name Fritz-Reuter-Bühne in 1946 - in the 20th year of its existence - by the government of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At that time the stage got into a serious crisis. She cannot play most of the Low German plays because publishers in the West hold the rights and royalties therefore have to be paid in Western money. The propaganda against the Low German language, which those in power in the GDR considered outdated and antiquated, is also slowly having an effect.
In 1962 the Fritz Reuter stage only existed in name. The General Manager at the time, Martin Hellberg, regarded the ensemble as part of the play at the Mecklenburg State Theater. More and more frequently, members of the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne are used in the big High German productions of the house. A proper game plan and regular trips to the provinces become almost impossible.
Renaissance under Rudolf Korf
Rudolf Korf was director of the Fritz Reuter stage from 1979 to 1983 and from 1990 to 1997.From 1963 Rudolf Korf took care of guest performances for the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne, and soon the troupe was not only being invited to village cultural centers, but increasingly also to larger theaters throughout the north of the GDR. The stage becomes nationally known.
In 1968 Rudolf Korf, the actor and later director of the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne, took up self-help again and wrote a new play for his ensemble, "Ümmer Arger mit den Döst", many more to follow. The stage also regularly dramatizes works by its famous namesake, Fritz Reuter, and also focuses on entertainment. Low German versions of the comedies by Rudi Strahl - the most frequently performed playwright in the GDR at the time.
The path of the Fritz Reuter stage to western television
A particularly curious chapter of German-German television history is how the Fritz Reuter stage then became known in the West as well. In addition to the recordings from the Hamburg Ohnsorg Theater in 1978, the NDR also wants to show plays from the Fritz Reuter stage. The Schwerin district council is extremely opposed to the project. The project is only approved after quiet diplomacy:the wife of the actor Manfred Brümmer can travel west to Hamburg as an early retiree. She asks the porter of the NDR for an appointment on television - and gets it on the same day. She talks to Hans Brecht, head of the film and theater editorial department, about the difficulties with the Schwerin district management and suggests contacting the responsible offices in East Berlin right away. And indeed:a year later, GDR television recorded the first Low German production with "Vadder hett ne Früdin". After the broadcast in the second program of the GDR television, the NDR can now take over the play. And with two other productions of the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne, currency for the GDR was later recorded.
The Reuter stage's fight for survival after the fall of the Wall
After the fall of the Wall and reunification, the stage once again had to fight for its audience. A dictum from that time is:"The Trabis roll everywhere, just not in front of the theater". Cultural centers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are closed, and there are no more theater performances in many inn halls. But the West is now also open to guest performances. The ensemble has been touring all over northern Germany since 1990. In 2008 the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne went on a big tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the first time with the musical based on the film of the same name "Große Freiheit Nr. 7".
Dual Citizenship:Current Issues up Platt
The ensemble caused a nationwide sensation in 1999 with a production of the latest stuff up Platt. The ensemble has the right piece for the discussion about the dual passport, i.e. dual citizenship:"The uncanny son-in-law". A student from Mecklenburg introduces her boyfriend and future husband to her parents - who comes from Africa. In the leading role, the Nigerian Jubril Sulaimon convinces with perfect Low German. A great stage success, reported on by many media and even the Africa program of Deutsche Welle.
Fear of the future in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's theater crisis
The actor, radio play speaker and director Rolf Petersen has been in charge of the Fritz Reuter stage since 2003.The Fritz-Reuter-Bühne once again had to worry about its future when the theater landscape in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was to be reorganized in the 1990s. One plan envisages separating the acting troupe from the Mecklenburg State Theater and establishing it as an ensemble at the Ernst Barlach Theater in Güstrow. However, this solution turns out to be very expensive - and so the stage at the Staatstheater in Schwerin remains.
Since then, under its director Rolf Petersen, it has built up a large detour network in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and beyond. The Fritz-Reuter-Bühne brings modern Low German theater and proven classics that could not be performed in GDR times. The ensemble also plays regularly for children up Platt and is committed to preserving the Low German language.
Fertile cooperation with the NDR
Over the decades, a fruitful collaboration between the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne and the Norddeutscher Rundfunk developed. From 1990, NDR television showed a number of Schwerin productions as part of the "Wi speelt up Platt" series. The New Year's classic "Dinner for one", which premiered in its Low German version in the 1994/95 season, was also recorded in 1999 by NDR television. Miss Sophie and her butler James have become Frollein Soffie and her servant Franz - and they have long since belonged at the turn of the year like sparkling wine and Berliners.
Another classic celebrates its premiere in 2005 at the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne:"Dat Späl von Dokter Faust". Goethe's drama up Platt is the ensemble's most elaborate and demanding production to date. Two years later, the production was turned into a radio play with the same actors in an NDR studio, which was also published as an audio book in 2016, the theatre's 90th anniversary year.
Big TV documentary on Fritz Reuter's 200th birthday
He created a literary monument to the Low German language:Fritz Reuter (Matthias Brenner in a scene from the NDR documentary "Fritz Reuter:Poor Rebell &Rich Poet")."Fritz Reuter - poor rebel, rich poet":In the Reuter year 2010 on the occasion of his 200th birthday, a television documentary by NDR traces the life of the great Low German poet from Mecklenburg. The Fritz Reuter stage, which can be seen during rehearsals for the birthday program for its namesake, plays an important role in this film.
CDs from NDR 1 Radio MV and the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne
In addition, NDR 1 Radio MV publishes a series of CDs with actors from the Fritz Reuter stage, including:
- "The prehistory of Meckelnborg" (2002), with Gerd Micheel
- "Ut mine Stromtid" (2010), by Fritz Reuter
- "All hands ahoy" (2004), Low German sailor's yarn by John Brinckman (2004)
- "There's more to do with what's going on" (2003), Eberhard Bremer and Marga Heiden perform the best Burrkäwers by Rudolf Tarnow
- "Adventures of Entspekter Bräsig" (2006), by Fritz Reuter, spoken by Kurt Nolze
- "It was bright in our rooms" (2011), Christmas CD
Theater fusion brings security for the years to come
In the 85th season in 2011 another crisis is announced. The lights should literally go out for the ensemble:in the middle of the pre-Christmas period, the supervisory board of the Mecklenburg State Theater proposes that the only Low German professional theater in the north-east be closed. There is much protest in those days and expressions of solidarity. Later it turns out:general director Joachim Kümmritz didn't really want to sacrifice the Fritz Reuter stage, he wanted to shake up politics and point out the precarious situation of the theaters in the country.
Among other things, this precarious situation finally leads to the reorganization of the theater landscape in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2016. The Mecklenburg State Theater in Schwerin and the Mecklenburg State Theater in Parchim merge, and the state becomes the majority shareholder. The theaters have been working together ever since, in return they have relative planning security - and the Fritz Reuter stage can still shine with guest performances in northern Germany, apart from at the Schwerin location.
Corona also slows down the Fritz Reuter stage
However, the next crisis is not long in coming:like all other venues in the north, the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne has to stop showing in spring 2020 as a result of the Corona crisis. The ensemble is using the time to produce Fritz Reuter's "Kein Hüsung" as a radio play based on a production from the 2016/2017 season - it is to be used in Low German lessons, among other things, and can be heard on the website of the Landesheimatverband. In the summer, the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne can again show its audience face to face what it can do - albeit at a distance:Under the motto "Geiht wedder los" the ensemble shows a good one-hour program at the traditional summer venue Freilichtmuseum Schwerin-Mueß outdoors. In the meantime, the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne is playing regularly again - the 2021/2022 season it is contesting with, among other things, "Misery - Schriew üm dien Läben" after Steven King.
It would be desirable that the renewed departure leads to a good future. Because there are only two Low German professional ensembles in Germany:the Ohnsorg Theater in Hamburg and the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.