23 May 2017

Archive of Käthe Reichel at the Akademie der Künste

Archive opening on 28 May with Academy members Christian Grashof and Klaus Völker, as well as Petra Kelling, Kurt Groenewold and Esther Slevogt

Throughout her lifetime Käthe Reichel (1926-2012) saw herself as a pupil of Bertolt Brecht. “Saint Joan of the Stockyards” was her life role and Brecht’s message about the changeability of the world was her vision, which she unwaveringly followed. The Akademie der Künste is remembering the actress in a Sunday matinee in honour of the opening of her archive on 28 May 2017. Following a proletarian childhood in Berlin and her years as a theatrical novice in the provinces, in 1950 Käthe Reichel was engaged by the Berliner Ensemble, where her real apprenticeship began. She performed in productions by Bertolt Brecht, Egon Monk, Benno Besson, Harry Buckwitz and many other leading directors of her time. 

Filling ten meters of shelf space, the Käthe-Reichel-Archiv at the Akademie der Künste is quite extensive. In addition to other valuable documents and papers, it pertains to her activities in theatres in the GDR and in the Federal Republic of Germany, but also includes manuscripts for her books and public appearances after 1990. Particularly noteworthy are the letters and short, handwritten notes Bertolt Brecht wrote to his former mistress, the majority of which are still unpublished. They document the sometimes difficult, but always very considerate relationship that Brecht carried out with Reichel. Other correspondence – with Ruth Berlau, Peter Palitzsch, Peter Suhrkamp and Helene Weigel – attests to her close association with the “Brecht Circle”.
Käthe Reichel is already present in numerous other archival inventories at the Akademie der Künste. Ideally, this reciprocity will not only allow the image of the actress to be enhanced piece by piece, as in a mosaic, but in reverse the accessibility of the newly established Käthe-Reichel-Archiv will also allow an interested public to draw valuable conclusions about the lives and work of other artists.

Klaus Völker will pay tribute to Käthe Reichel at the archive opening on 28 May. Film clips demonstrate her impressive acting abilities. Petra Kelling and Christian Grashof will read from the in part unpublished correspondence between the actress and Bertolt Brecht. In discussion with the lawyer Kurt Groenewold and all the participants, the moderator Esther Slevogt will take a deeper look at Käthe Reichel, as a person, artist, and political activist. Selected documents and photographs from Reichel’s rich estate can be seen in a showcase presentation conceived expressly for this special event.

Event Information
Käthe Reichel
Brecht’s Pupil – A Whole Life Long
Archive opening and display case presentation
Sunday, 28 May 2017, 11 am, admission: € 6/4
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin
Ticket reservations: Tel. +49 (0)30 20057-2000 or ticket@adk.de

Press tickets: Tel. +49 (0)30 20057-1514 or presse@adk.de

For further inquiries:
Stephan Dörschel, head of the Performing Arts Archive
Tel. +49 (0)30 20057-3254, doerschel@adk.de