„Have courage and stand firm: Measures against violence“ | Reading and discussion

„We can’t make heaven out of earth, but each of us can do something to prevent it from becoming hell.“

If you take this statement by Fritz Bauer as a crystallisation point for conceivable impulses to „do something“, then you could ask: „But what?“. At the event, Reinhold Spratte will present a spectrum of poems that go beyond lamenting adverse conditions to ask for „action against violence“ (Brecht quote). And it will come as no surprise that the authors come up with very different ideas and suggestions.

Texts by Enzensberger, Brecht, Ulla Hahn, Fontane, Fried, Goethe, Heiner Müller, Domin.a. and, perhaps surprisingly, the baroque poet Paul Fleming will be read aloud.

The texts recited are „against violence“. Does this mean that violence per se cannot be a means against oppression? Or is it the case, as Brecht often put it, that violence alone can eliminate violence?

We can consider this question after the reading.

Reinhold Spratte, a trained machine fitter, studied German language and literature, education and philosophy in Münster. He was a teacher at the Schiller-Gymnasium in Witten until 2004. After his retirement, he worked as a volunteer for the Witten/Tczew town twinning organisation. Through various events and lectures, he introduced people to Polish literature in the spirit of German-Polish reconciliation. Spratte is also a painter and artist.