Reading & Talk
For Heiner Müller, the past was not only not gone, it was also the repository from which insights into the future could be gained: “One must dig up the dead, again and again, because only from them can one draw the future.” This “virulence of ghosts” (Durs Grünbein) is reflected in Müller's work in the presence of the dead, in the excavations of the material of history from which they emerge as living revenants. The decaying empires of yesterday provide the patterns of variation for the political developments of tomorrow.
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Heiner Müller
As a playwright and poet without hope, but also without despair, Heiner Müller took up the contradictions of his time and transformed them into lasting images. His own experience of being a stranger is central to his work; expulsion and exile form the main themes of his plays, poems, and essays. “For a long time, he was almost the only one who addressed nearly all the experiences of flight in the 20th century in his work.” (Achim Engelberg) A departure from the ruins, symbolized by his notebook, which he began on January 1, 1945, an excerpt from which is presented for the first time in SINN UND FORM 1/2026 and read by Martin Wuttke at the Academy of Arts.
How Heiner Müller, who always presented himself as a historian rather than a prophet, became a global classic; why we lack a public intellectual like him today; which of his assessments about reunifying Germany proved accurate; what brings the fragments and scraps of his writing together to form a complete picture—these are the topics that Achim Engelberg, Annett Gröschner, Katja Lange-Müller, Mark Lammert, and Simon Strauß will discuss these questions.
Starting at 5 p.m. in the “Café Müller” in the club room, there will be an opportunity to discuss the author with experts at various tables
registration
Starting at 7 p.m., Notebook 1945 will be presented (reading by Martin Wuttke) and the facets of his work will be discussed during a reading and discussion in the plenary hall.
An evening dedicated to Heiner Müller, featuring the first presentation of his notes from the winter of 1945, when the war was raging, and a discussion among colleagues and experts about the enduring significance of his work.
With
Achim Engelberg, Annett Gröschner, Mark Lammert, Katja Lange-Müller, Simon Strauß, Matthias Weichelt, Martin Wuttke
(in German)
Dates
February 2026
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