In the Footsteps of Max Reinhardt | 39th Berlin Jewish Culture Days

Reinhardt’s theatres included the Deutsches Theater, the Neues Theater am Schiffbauerdamm (now the Berliner Ensemble), the Volksbühne, the Kleine Theater (which no longer exists), the Theater am Kurfürstendamm and the Großes Schauspielhaus – the predecessor of the Friedrichstadt-Palast.

Its artistic director, Dr Berndt Schmidt, kicked off the 100th-anniversary celebrations in 2019 with a recorded speech by Reinhardt. Outside the theatre, a flag flew bearing the Star of David and the declaration: ‘Jewish roots since 1919’. Reinhardt was initially stigmatised by the Nazis and lost all his theatres in 1933. Schmidt commissioned meticulous research into the history of his theatre, shedding light on the role of the Großes Schauspielhaus during the Nazi era: this unsparing account was published under the title ‘Dein Tänzer ist der Tod’ (Your Dancer is Death).

Together with Dr Berndt Schmidt and the directors of other former Reinhardt theatres, the panel will explore how Max Reinhardt’s artistic legacy continues to have an impact today – and what responsibility the theatres bear in dealing with their own history.