Fünf Tage vor seinem 76. Geburtstag 1992 öffnete der Schauspieler Wolf Kaiser ein Fenster seiner Berliner Wohnung, Friedrichstraße 128, vierter Stock, und sprang in den Tod. Der Darsteller des Gentleman-Gangsters Mackie Messer im Brecht-Ensemble am Schiffbauer Damm (über 400 Vorstellungen) und sozialistische Fernseh-Serienheld war eine Berühmtheit der ehemaligen DDR.
Fassung für BBC, Features and Documentaries / “German Stories” (2009).
H. K. and text in Times New Roman letters = author as interviewer in the field
H. K. and text in Courier New letters = author as narrator and translator
TRANSLATION generally interlaced with original sound
THE SHARK-SONG — INSTRUMENTAL VERSION FROM KURT WEILL’s SUITE FOR WINDINSTRUMENTS, 1928
H. K. Oh, the shark has pretty teeth dear / And he shows them pearly white / Just a jack-knife has Macheath dear / And he keeps it out of sight…
CEMETERY (DOROTHEENSTÄDTISCHER FRIEDHOF, BERLIN – I)
H. K. A cemetery close to the centre of Berlin, resting place for dozens of German celebrities – writers, artists, politicians.
Beate Rosch (REEDING INSCRIPTIONS) … Heinrich Mann …
H. K. … Anna Seghers … Ach, hier liegt Brecht!
Rosch … Brecht und Weigel … So, und hier ist …
H. K. Wolf Kaiser … 21. 10. 92 gestorben …
H. K. Together with my colleague Beate Rosch, a radio producer in the former East Germany, I’m standing in front of the grave of Bertolt Brecht’s anti-hero Mack the Knife.
H. K. (CALCULATING) 92 … 82 … 76 war er da …
H. K. Died in 1992, aged 76 – two years after “The Wall” came down.
Rosch Ich kam ja in der Nacht nach Hause …
H. K. Vom Funk?
Rosch Jaja … Und da war Kriminalpolizei in der Toreinfahrt … Es ist was passiert … Er liegt noch hier … Wolf Kaiser … Naja, und er war mit ‘m weißen Tuch bedeckt und dieser Blutstrom, der in diesen Gully lief…
H. K. That night, Beate comes home from work – now freelancing for the joint German radio … Detectives in the doorway … There’s been an incident, they say … It’s Wolf Kaiser under the white sheet. And a stream of blood pouring into the drain.
Rosch Also, dass er wirklich durchs Fenster geht, das hätte niemand so gedacht !
H. K. Nobody foresaw that he would leave this world through the window, says Beate.
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Kenneth Tynan (SOUND IN RUNNING CAB) For me this is one of the most exciting trips in the world. Whenever I embark on it I get an odd lift of anticipation. It starts in the Western sector of Berlin. You drive up to the grandiose bullet-shaped pillars of the Brandenburg Tor and cross the Iron curtain into the Eastern zone. This is the journey that Bertolt Brecht made in 1948 – a great poet and playwright coming home after 15 years of exile in Scandinavia and the United States.
H. K. Kenneth Tynan, eminent British theatre critic, reporting for the BBC in 1961. I myself – a young German student of theatre history – travelled the same route in that spring before “The Wall” went up.
Tynan Across the river in a corner of a little square stands the “Theater am Schiffbauerdamm”, the home of arguably the finest company of actors in Europe: Bertolt Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble.
LOW IN THE BACKGROUND: THE “SHARK-SONG” OF THREE-PENNY-OPERA, SUNG BY BRECHT HIMSELF
Tynan It was here he had his first success. Here in 1928 he and Kurt Weill astonished Berlin with the “Drei-Groschen-Oper”, the “Threepenny-Opera”. During the original run he himself recorded the opening number …
SONG UP
Brecht … doch das Messer sieht man nicht / An ’nem schönen blauen Sonntag / liegt ein toter Mann am strand …
ORIGINAL RECORDING OF WOLF KAISER JOINS IN:
Kaiser … An ’nem schönen blauen Sonntag / liegt ein toter Mann am strand / Und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke / den man Mackie Messer nennt …
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KAISER’S APPARTMENT IN BERLIN / STREET NOISE ( RECORDED 1990)
Kaiser … Das ist seine Vorstellung von Einfachheit und Kultur !
H. K. Ein Brecht-Stuhl ?
Kaiser Das ist Brechts Stuhl …
Kaiser’s English voice Brecht ’s chair – iron and leather …
Kaiser Setzen Sie sich mal rein !
Kaiser’s English voice Take a seat !
H. K. … said Mac the Knife — I didn’t meet Kaiser till 1990, one year after the wall came down.
Kaiser’s apartment, 128 Friedrichstraße, 4th floor, was plastered with prints and drawings of the stage-criminal, who became his other self. He played the part more than 400 times.
Kaiser Tja, das ist er – der Gute !
H. K. Kaiser alias Macheath got up and walked over to that window to lock out the Berlin street noise.
W. K. CLOSES THE WINDOW
The new production of “Threepenny-Opera”, directed by Erich Engel, opened in April 1961 – when the Border between both parts of Berlin was still open.
Kaiser … Und da sag’ ich Ihnen: Es gab keine Karten für unsere Leute, weil der ganze Westen da drin war ! Und unsere standen nun an, um auch mal das Stück zu sehen (LACHT / LAUGHES) Nach dem Mauerbau kamen dann unsere Leute rein !
Kaiser’s English voice There were no tickets left. / The theatre was filled with Westerners. / Our people had to stay out. / Before the wall was there, they had no chance to see the piece.
SONG WITH KAISER AND COMPANY: Soldaten Wohnen / Auf den Kanonen / Vom Cap bis Couch Behar / Wenn es mal regnete / Und es begegnete / Ihnen ’ne neue Rasse / ’ne braune oder blasse / Da machten sie vielleicht daraus ihr Beefsteak Tartar … MUSIC ENDS / ON TOP OF THE FRANTIC APPLAUSE:
Kaiser’s English voice London was a climax of our international success!
H. K. “There can be no better Mac the Knife than Wolf Kaiser”, wrote THE GUARDIAN about the London performance at the Old Vic. “His voice, appearance, the range of his personality are unique”.
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Regine Lutz He was my Mackie Messer – I was his first Polly there !
H. K. Regine Lutz, now 81.
Regine Lutz Well, he was an imposing person. Where he stood on the stage – somebody stood there ! Really ! He was a little bit loud always … And he was vain ! He wanted all the years to play Mackie Messer … absolutely ! For him it was the role of his life.
Lutz Volke Es war schon so: Man sollte sich nach im umdrehen und sagen: Ah – das ist der Kaiser, der große Kaiser …
H. K. Everybody ought to turn round and say: “There he is, the great Kaiser !” says Lutz Volke, my former radio colleague. “Kaiser” is the German word for “Cesar” or “emperor”.
Regine Lutz Mackie Messer has also a dangerous side – and Wolf had!
H. K. … a shark …
Regine Lutz Yes – he had something I feared sometimes. But our rehearsals as Polly and Mackie went okay. That were very good rehearsals.
Carmen-Maja Antoni Er war auch ein Erzkomödiant, ein toller Typ, ein Verrückter, ein Besessener, ein ganz extravaganter Mann, ein schwieriger Mensch – das war schon eine schillernde Gestalt in dieser Theaterlandschaft.
H. K. He was a great comedian and what a bloke, says Carmen-Maja Antoni, “Mother Courage” in the current production of the Berliner Ensemble — difficult, dazzling but dubious.
Holger Teschke I also saw him playing Menenius Agrippa, the Roman senator and the great orator …
H. K. Holger Teschke – director and former “Dramaturge” of the Berliner Ensemble.
Teschke The plebeians are in uproar and they want to overthrow the senate. And he is sent out to calm them down. And he is doing that with the famous speech about the belly and the limbs. So he came – I think it was the first moment when he entered the stage … and he is talking to them, and then he said: Let me tell you the story about the belly … (THEATRICAL) “There was a time when all the limbs rebelled against the belly …” – An I thought: Wow – this is really different. And it was really different. And so I became fascinated by this actor. Who is that?
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DOCUMENT FROM BERTOLT BRECHT’S “CORIOLAN”:
Kaiser (AS MENENIUS) … Von ihnen kommt ’s ! Was sagst du jetzt – du großer Zeh in diesem Haufen ?
Erster Bürger / First citizen Ich ? Wieso bin ich der große Zeh ?
Kaiser Weil du der Niederste, Gemeinste, Ärmste von dem Gesindel bist. Du gehst voran ! Du Schurke, du ansteckend fauler Apfel !
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Teschke I saw him very often walk up and down Friedrichstrasse where he lived.
H. K. What was his appearance ?
Teschke He was a Roman senator walking in East Berlin (LAUGHES) … With his haircut … a tall figure … He was a very strong man ! In the Friedrichstrasse at least I thought I could feel: Wolf Kaiser is approaching. And I was impressed. And I was too shy to ask him. Because – you know, he was not a very approachable man!
Regine Lutz He wasn’t very intelligent – if I may say that.
H. K. Well – the best actors are not sometimes …
Lutz Yes, that is true ! Wolf could be in certain roles very good. Very good! For example: Somebody who talked very intellectual and wasn’t – oh, then he was very good ! Yes ! He was a good priest in “Mother Courage”.
H. K. He was more acting – we would say in German – with his stomach and not so much with his brain…
Lutz That’s it … That women said: Oh, Mackie !
H. K. Did you like his appearance when you saw him the first time as young girl?
Lutz Oh no !
H. K. No ?
Lutz No … no … no … I was very, very … vorsichtig …
H. K. … cautious …
Lutz … cautious, yes !
H. K. Why ? What was it really ?
Lutz He was a womanizer ! He thought that to say “No” to him was absolutely impossible. He would have said: Ahhh – the small one … Jaja … (SHE LAUGHES) But I’m sure that Brecht would have given Mackie to another actor…
H. K. You mean if Brecht would have survived longer he would have chosen another actor?
Lutz Yes !
H. K. Why ?
Lutz Because Brecht wanted – I’m sure — Mackie Messer should look like everybody.
H. K. Like Brecht said: “What is worse – to rob a bank or to run a bank ?”
Lutz Yes ! This was his dialectics !
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Kaiser (ZITIERT / QUOTES) Nur, wer im Wohlstand lebt, lebt angenehm…
Kaiser’s English voice Only, who lives in affluence / lives well.
(KAISER SINGS) … Wenn man sie sieht, wie das am Abend friert / Mit kalter Gattin stumm zu Bette geht / Und horcht, ob niemand klatscht und nichts versteht / Und trostlos in das Jahr 5000 stiert — / Jetzt frag ich Sie nur noch: Ist das bequem ? / Nur wer im Wohlstand lebt, lebt angenehm!
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Kaiser Es war ein neuer Anfang mit neuen Menschen mit einer neuen Idee…
Kaiser’s English voice It was a new start – a new man and a new idea.
INSTRUMENTAL FROM KURT WEILL’s SUITE FOR WINDINSTRUMENTS (FOXTROTT) LOW IN THE BACKGROUND
H. K. … said Kaiser still in 1991 about the wrecked project of the East German Democratic Republic and the contribution of the Brecht Theatre.
Kaiser Die Leute kamen manchmal nach der Arbeit mit der Stulle – die hörten sie schön rascheln – nicht wahr … kamen die ins Theater ! Dann noch Diskussion … (ACTING) Jaaaa, mir hat das nicht so richtig gefallen … Ja, warum denn nicht ? Und dann wurde verändert ! Das gab’s hier ! Das sind alles positive Dinge !
Kaiser’s English voice Sometimes people came from work with their Butterbrot / and we heard them rustle. / No entrance fee. / And they sat down, tucking into their sandwich and listened. / And then we discussed … “Did you like the piece ?” / If necessary, we changed things … Wasn’t that all positive?
MUSIC ENDS
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Jaecki Schwarz Naja eben … Kunst gehört dem Volk. Und das Volk sollte nun ins Theater gehen…
H. K. Art for the people was the catchphrase, says Jaecki Schwarz, former Brecht actor, nowadays a top TV star in Germany.
Schwarz Und die Leute sind manchmal auch nicht gerne ins Theater gegangen…
H. K. But quite often people only went because they’d get bonus marks in their so-called Cultural Brigade Book.
Schwarz Gut, man kann auch Leute zu ihrem Glück zwingen. Aber ich möchte zu meinem Glück nicht gezwungen werden!
H. K. You can’t force people to be happy!
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Kaiser Wir hatten ja mehr Proletariat wie Intelligenz. Die waren ja abgehauen. Bin selber ein Proletarier – das heißt: Arbeiterkind. Und wenn ich schon Legende bin, bin ich immer noch ’n Arbeiterkind!
Kaiser’s English voice We used to have more proletarians than intellectuals. Those had deserted westward. I’m a proletarian myself. Even if in the meantime I became a legend – I’m still a worker’s child! Only those who had to fight for work themselves will understand the greatness of our socialist constitution, which demands not only the right but also the duty to work…
Kaiser Ein Pflicht, die zur Befreiung wird !
Kaiser’s English voice …and liberates the working class and makes them organize their own fate.
H. K. Unfortunately, the GDR constitution had in the meantime been replaced by the constitutional law of the newly-unified Germany.
Kaiser Das ganze Unternehmen hier war ja auch ein Versuch.
Kaiser’s English voice It was an experiment. Nobody should say, that everything was lousy and wrong.
Kaiser Gar nicht ! Gar nicht ! Und es wurde auch sehr viel Gutes erreicht! Nur diese verdammte Mauer und was weiß ich … Welche Regierung macht nicht mal Quatsch!
Kaiser’s English voice We achieved quite a lot ! There was just that damned wall. Which government doesn’t fail once in a while?
Kaiser Tscha — und ich hab das Glück gehabt, Figuren auf der Bühne, im Film und im Fernsehen dazustellen, mit denen ich zeigen konnte, was ich denke!
Kaiser’s English voice On the stage, in my film-parts and on television I was lucky to create some characters, who showed my own convictions.
H. K. One of those figures was “Meister Falk”, hero of a well known TV-series in the former GDR, who was able to solve all the contradictions of East German real life instantly — by using his common sense.
Kaiser (FROM TV- SOUNDTRACK) Mit ihrem eigenen Geld sie selber aus dem Feld schlagen — das ist der Klassenkampf nach meinem Geschmack! Nicht wahr, Jungs!
H. K. Beating our competitors in West Germany by their own methods, says Falk in a meeting with East German workmates.
Kaiser Nicht wahr, Jungs?
H. K. That’s the sort of class struggle I like!
Workmate (APPROVING) Stimmt genau!
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H. K. Would you say, Kaiser was a Communist?
Regine Lutz Oh no ! Oh no !
H. K. He got so many medals later on and all those honours…
Lutz I wouldn’ say ! No … No, really. He was not! No!
Teschke I pretty much doubt it — and a lot of people ! I mean – he played all these political parts in television — “Meister Falk”, you know this dream model of a socialist worker — or Thomas Münzer, a revolutionary peasants leader…
Regine Lutz He had a hobby: astrology! Yes! I remember. Perhaps he saw something in the stars – I don’t know…
H. K. He was an actor!
Regine Lutz An actor! He was a real actor!
Teschke He wanted to play ! Period ! And if someone would have called him and said: Wolf, would you play God ? He would have said: Yes, of course – because I know, how to play God (LAUGHS)!
H. K. Because I am God…
Teschke Of course.
Carmen-Maja Antoni Kaiser gehörte natürlich, sag’ ich mal, zu den Privilegierten in der DDR. Er hatte Geld in der Schweiz, er konnte in die Schweiz fahren – und insofern war er schon ziemlich bevorzugt.
H. K. No doubt — Kaiser was privileged, says Carmen-Maja Antoni. He had money in a Swiss bank account and was able to travel there.
Rosch Das war auch in der Kantine strikt getrennt…
H. K. Even in the canteen there was a kind of segregation, remembers Beate Rosch her time as a member of the Berliner Ensemble…
Rosch Da gab ’s eben den Tisch der Stars. Und es war dann eigentlich nur noch sehr deprimierend und es hat mich immer mehr zu gemacht… (SEUFZT / SIGHS)
H. K. There was the “Star Table” … And I myself got more and more depressed…
Corinna Harfouch Ich hab an dem Haus nie ’ne Atmosphäre kennen gelernt, wo — sagen wir mal – das ganze Haus fiebert in einer Arbeit und die durchsetzt. Das hab ich nie erlebt.
H. K. Corinna Harfouch, today one of the most important TV-actresses in Germany, can’t remember any situation, when the famous Brecht Ensemble was acting together – as a true “Kollektiv”.
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HARSH BEGINNING OF OVERTURE TO “THREEPENNY OPERA” AS IN KURT WEILL’S SUITE — CROSSFADING WITH:
MASS PROTESTS IN EASTERN GERMANY 1989 – CROWDS SHOUTING:
“THE WALL MUST FALL”!
MUSIC STAYS LOW IN THE BACKGROUND
H. K. In the very last days of the GDR – October 1989 — a Swiss production of “Antigone” by Sophocles was invited to the Berlin Theatre Festival. Carmen-Maja Antoni played the part of Antigone, Kaiser was blind Theresias.
Antoni Das war kurz vor “Peng !” Die Mauer war noch zu. Und da hatte er noch mal ein richtig großes Come back.
H. K. … And his last theatre appearance.
When the gun smoke cleared, Mac the Knife too saw with bitterness the extent of corruption and opportunism in his former paradise — and in the new society as well.
MUSIC FADES OUT
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Kaiser Äh … Es ekelt mich ! Dass auch sehr viele Regierungsleute mit befasst waren … Das ist — äh ! Ist dreckig ! Man muss brechen!
Kaiser’s English voice It makes me sick. Even government people were involved. It’s filthy. I feel like vomiting. Nobody expected proletarians would be capable of doing all that.
Kaiser Keiner ! Keiner ! — Und so fielen die auch alle aus’m Himmel in die Hölle runter und sagten: Um Gottes Willen – was haben die getrieben mit uns!
Kaiser’s English voice And we woke up in hell, wondering what “they” had been doing with us.
Kaiser Das hat nicht jeder gewusst … Das haben viele gewusst, aber nicht jeder!
Kaiser’s English voice The majority didn’t know … But the grand communist idea wasn’t affected by any of this. It was just
a bit…
Kaiser Sie wurde unkeusch.
Kaiser’s English voice … unchaste.
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CEMETERY (II)
Beate Rosch Er hatte ja diese berühmte abgeschabte Aktentasche. Und da ging er jeden Tag mit dieser Tasche aus’m Haus. Und es machte überhaupt keinen Sinn, ihn zu grüßen ! Er blickte vor sich hin wie versteint. Er hatte gar keine Wahrnehmung mehr von seiner Außenwelt.
H. K. Beate Rosch recalls his famous shabby briefcase. Wolf Kaiser known as Mac the Knife had it always with him, when he left the house. There was no sense in saying “Hello there”, she says. His face like stone. Obviously, he didn’t notice anyone around.
H. K. Und er hat den Eindruck aufrecht erhalten wollen, dass er noch zur Arbeit geht…
Rosch Ja !
H. K. He left the house day after day, pretending that he went
to work … A neighbour told her, that this lonely man had approached him for a gun – “to end it all”.
FADE IN “THE MORITAT OF MACKIE MESSER” FROM KURT WEILL’s SUITE FOR WINDINSTRUMENTS – MODERATO ASSAI (LOW AND SOFT IN THE BACKGROUND)
Kaiser Schau’n Sie – ich hab die Arbeitslosigkeit erlebt. Und jetzt ist es wieder ähnlich !
Alles ist genau so wieder aufgewacht wie eine Hydra … Und es herrscht mächtig, mächtig der Kapitalismus ! “Alles ist käuflich” hat der Brecht gesagt. (WITH A SIGH) Blut für Öl — das ist ekelhaft!
Kaiser’s English voice I went through unemployment myself. And now it’s all back again – same misery. Drugs and prostitution. The monster has re-awoken and is waving its tongue. And mightily does capitalism rule. All is for sale, said Brecht. “Blood for oil” – it’s disgusting.
Kaiser Wir wollten es verändern ! Und haben einiges verändert und haben einen gewissen Stoss in die menschliche Richtung getan.
Kaiser’s English voice We wanted to change things ! And we made a push towards humanity!
Kaiser Das haben wir.
Kaiser’s English voice I still believe that mankind will improve.
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Teschke Deep down he was very, very sad about basically everything what had happened – to him, to the theatre, to his country. He was the example of the Berliner Ensemble could make a better GDR happen. Which is of course an illusion – but how many people could live without an illusion in their life!
Antoni Er war ja verzweifelt, dass er, der geachtete Künstler…
H. K. … den jeder kannte …
Antoni … den jeder kannte, der ein anderes Leben gewöhnt war — alles ist ihm überm Kopf zusammengebrochen: sein Lebensbild, sein ideologisches Bild und sein künstlerisches Bild waren nicht mehr gefragt.
H. K. The esteemed artist, known by everyone, saw himself suddenly on the edge of his existence. The structure of his life collapsed — his ideology, his art — all rendered worthless.
In the unified Germany, he expected a tiny pension – being unable to support his wife, who never had made a penny on her own but always was his faithful ally.
Antoni Wissen Sie, das ist als Mann wahrscheinlich auch eine menschliche Katastrophe.
H. K. For a man it was just a human catastrophe, assumes Carmen-Maja Antoni.
And there was not a single job offer in the whole 1989.
Teschke An actor needs the audience. You can’t play at home for your self against the mirror!
I can imagine this idea that the king has to stand in the line and to wait and to apply … He wasn’t a young man any more, he had this long career in the theatre as well as in film … But then you have people like Carmen-Maja Antoni who really started a second career ! She was very successful. And a lot of people who lost their position after 1989 – also in the Berliner Ensemble — they found other places. And even if they played in tiny little theatres somewhere out of Berlin — at least they could play ! If you are happy with the work you do, you don’t jump out of the window. You get over it.
H. K. But he – he couldn’t…
Teschke He couldn’t !
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CEMETERY (III)
Rosch … Sie haben vor der Glotze gesessen, beide – das hat sie mir dann erzählt, kurz danach. Und da stand er auf und hat ihr so über die Wange gestrichen, ist aus ‘m Zimmer gegangen. Kommt nicht wieder…
H. K. They watched TV, side by side – Rita Kaiser told my friend Beate shortly after … Then he, Mac the Knife, gets up … strokes her cheek … walks out of the room … doesn’t come back … His wife enters his study … window open … slippers orderly in line … And she shrieks like mad…
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H. K. Can you recall your own perceptions, feelings, when this happened?
Teschke I was in the Berliner Ensemble, in the canteen. And somebody came in and said: “Wolf just jumped out of his window !” And there was this moment of silence … It was a great shock, it was a great shock to many colleagues I have spoken to…
Lutz I was dumbfounded … I was speechless ! Absolutely speechless ! Every suicide is terrible – but Wolf…
Teschke I think all the actors in that room immediately understood why he did it…
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CEMETERY (IV)
H. K. Gehst Du öfter mal hierher?
Rosch Na – hier sind sie ja alle ! (SIE LACHT)
H. K. They are lying here – all of them…
Antoni Ich hab mir neulich mal die Mühe gemacht und bin auf 64 Kollegen gekommen, die da liegen inzwischen. Das heißt: Ich war auf 64 Beerdigungen fast !
H. K. She counted 64 colleagues – attended nearly 64 funerals…
Rosch In diesen Jahren sind die reihenweise abgetreten. Die sind einfach gestorben ! Man hatte plötzlich den Eindruck: Die Uhr ist abgelaufen.
H. K. In those years, says Beate, so many simply died. The general perception was: The hour has come.
H. K. Aber die Rita Kaiser liegt auch hier…
Rosch Ja, 94 – zwei Jahre später.
H. K. Rita Kaiser died two years after her husband’s suicide. The small plate bearing her name lies at Mac the Knife’s feet.
H. K. Also hier sehen wir die Schluss-Szene der “Dreigroschen-Oper”, denk’ ich mal…
Rosch Mackie am Galgen.
H.K. On his tombstone we see him under the gallows, rope around his neck – But then … listen:
FADE INTO FINAL CHORUS OF “THREEPENNY OPERA” (INSTRUMENTAL VERSION FROM KURT WEILL’s SUITE FOR WINDINSTRUMENTS) MIXED WITH CHOIR FROM HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE
H.K.There comes the king’s messenger on horseback and saves Mackies life. Und a choir sings gratefully … Happy end.
On stage.