For the poet a monument, for the thinker a platform

21 November is the 200th anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. For this reason, 2011 was designated as an international memorial year in honour of the poet. A reminder of the required reading from your German lessons? Far from it! Participating institutions and creative artists have managed to put together exciting events and presentations with the work and ideas of the writer who died at a young age. As well as a large double exhibition in Frankfurt/Oder and Berlin, varied aspects of Kleist's work are picked up on and questioned in interesting projects. At last a good opportunity to get to know and love Heinrich von Kleist a little more!

Double exhibition - Kleist: Crisis and experiment

Heinrich von Kleist was not a collector and his estate was modest. The Kleist Museum Frankfurt/Oder and Berliner Ephraim-Palais have made a virtue of necessity. Using Kleist's works and writings, they present a vivid picture of the poet, his life and his ideas. Kleist was born in Frankfurt/Oder and committed suicide together with Henriette Vogel in Berlin. The Berlin part of the exhibition "Kleist: Crisis and Experiment" is divided into three catastrophes - Kleist as a child soldier, the fall of Prussia and his suicide. In Frankfurt/Oder, Kleist's multi-faceted personality and his very different stages in life can be experienced. Thanks to the free space available, visitors can create their own image of the poet and discover the modernity of his thought.

Theatre festival at the Maxim Gorki Theatre

We haven't had all the theatre pieces of Kleist on one stage for quite a long time now! Director Armin Petras has met the challenge though with many of his Kleist productions in the repertoire at the Maxim Gorki Theatre. At the Kleist Festival there will also be two guest performances from the "Münchener Kammerspiele" (Munich Intimate Theatre) as well as new productions and Kleist's narrative work. The life and work of the poet is also the theme of many interdisciplinary projects and workshops during the two-week festival. These include a video game installation of the digital puppeteer Victor Morales based on Kleist's essay "Über das Marionettentheater" (On the Marionette Theatre).

Rimini Protokoll (Rimini Protocol) – documentary theatre of Kleist

The documentary theatre of the Rimini Protocol takes Kleist's artistic heritage as the foundation for modern debate. His self-appointed "expert theatre" allows theatre makers to take a new approach with amateur actors – the experts on everyday life – in a long research and preparation phase. It is currently developing a project on the military aspect in Kleist's work that will be opened during the Kleist Festival in Frankfurt/Oder and can subsequently be seen at "Hebbel am Ufer" in Berlin.

Acoustic memorial in honour of Kleist

Heinrich von Kleist and Henriette Vogel committed suicide together on 21 November 1811 at Wannsee Lake. What led to this? What exactly happened on that day? And what is still remains from this event? The radio playmaker and director Paul Plamper presents an audio memorial for Kleist Memorial Year. Equipped with audio players, visitors can explore the site, discover the historical background on headphones and trace the history between the boathouses and rowing clubs. The Kleist gravestone will be redesigned at the end of the international commemoration year.
For more information on the Kleist Memorial Year 2011, visit http://www.heinrich-von-kleist.org/kleist-jahr-2011/