German Theatrical Expressionism
A WORK IN PROGRESS...
A WORK IN PROGRESS...
24-Jan | Pastor Hall by Ernst Toller has it's German premier at The Deutches Theatre, Berlin.
The Raft of the Medusa by Georg Kaiser
2-Sept | World War II ends (with Japan's formal surrender)
6-Aug | The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
4-Jun | Georg Kaiser dies in exile (Switzerland)
31-Apr | Goebbels dies in bunker (Berlin)
30-Apr | Adolf Hitler dies in bunker (Berlin)
THEATRE
Hope for a Harvest by Sophie Treadwell (New York, NY)
THEATRE
Alain und Elise (Georg Kaiser) in Switzerland
Pastor Hall (Ernst Toller) is published in United States, London
The Soldier Tanaka (Georg Kaiser) in SwitzerlandÂ
TIMELINE
1-Apr | Global pandemic ends
adapted from the play written by Ernst Toller
Pastor Hall by Ernst Toller is rejected for performance in New York by Dramatists Guild
1-Sept | World War II begins with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.
1-May | Ernst Toller dies in exile (New York, NY)
Draw the Fires by Ernst Toller
Antonin Artaud lists Woyczek in his first Theatre of Cruelty manifestoÂ
TIMELINE
Georg Kaiser flees Nazi leadership, going into exile in Switzerland.
Nazi party has a celebration of 4 years in power (Berlin, Germany).
No More Peace by Ernst Toller is produced at the Gate Theatre, London, England.
TIMELINE
16-Aug | Olympics end.
1-Aug | Summer Olympics begin in Berlin, Germany. Film introduced Aryan internationally.
16-Feb | Winter Olympics end.
6-Feb | Winter Olympics begin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Draw the Fires by Ernst Toller in London, England
The Blind Goddess by Ernst Toller premiere in London, England
American President Franklin D Roosevelt's Great New Deal (33-39) establishes The Federal Theatre Project in the United States.
Der Silbersee by Georg Kaiser with Kurt Weill (opera)
Georg Kaiser's plays are banned
TIMELINE
13-MAR | Goebbels named head of new Propaganda Ministry
4-FEB | German President Hindenberg enacts the "Decree for the Protection of People and State" which allows book bans.
JAN | Hitler comes to power
Miracle in America by Ernst Toller and Kesten
PLAYS WRITTEN
Draw the Fires by Ernst Toller
MEDICAL FIELD
Civilization and Discontents, Sigmund Freud
FILM
All Quiet on the Western Front film premiere draws violent protests led by Nazi stormtroopers and is banned from further performance after one week.
TIMELINE
20-Sept: Mississippi by Georg Kaiser (premier in 9 German cities)
18-Feb: Der Silbersee (The Silverlake) by Georg Kaiser
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell premieres at Plymouth Theatre, Broadway, New York
Berlin, Last Edition (Radio play) by Ernst TollerÂ
Bourgeois Bliebt Bourgeois (Bourgeois Stays Bourgeois) by Ernst Toller, Walter Hasenclever, and Kesten
24-Nov | Die Lederköpfe (The Leatherheads) by Georg Kaiser at the Neues Theatre in FrankfurtÂ
Experiences with Justice by Ernst Toller
Hoppla, wir Leben! (Hurrah, we Live!) by Ernst Toller - also translated as Hoppla, Such is Life!
?-Jan | Die Ent. Wotan (Wotan Unbound) by Ernst Toller premiers in Prague
26-Feb | Die Ent. Wotan (Wotan Unbound) by Ernst Toller premieres in Berlin
Von Morgens bis Mitternachts (From Morn 'till Midnight) by Georg Kaiser at Gate Theatre, London, England
16-Nov | Die Ent. Wotan (Wotan Unbound) premiers at Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
3-Aug | The Awakening (a mass play) by Ernst Toller performed at Trade Union Festival, Leipzig
15-Jul | Toller released from prison one day early, and secretly expelled from Bavaria
Knudsen, Hans. "Development of the Actors Art." Munich, Germany.
Georg Kaiser served a short sentence in prison for stealing breadÂ
PLAYS WRITTEN
The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice (United States)
Wotan Unbound by Ernst Toller (Germany)
PLAYS PUBLISHED
Die Maschinenstrurmers (The Machine Wreckers) by Ernst Toller (cast of at least 40)
11-NOV | Nebeneinander (Side by Side) presented in Berlin, Germany. Playwright: Georg Kaiser
The Machine Wreckers by Ernst Toller is presented
Vatermord (Patricide) by Arnolt Bronnen is presented and causes riots in the theatre that spilled out on to the street requiring police intervention.
Scenario: Pictures from the French Revolution by Ernst TollerÂ
19-SEPT | Hinkemann by Ernst Toller is presented at the Alles Theatre, Leipzig, Germany. Director: Alwin Krohocher. Over 50 performances.
UNITED STATES
Gringo by Sophie Treadwell premieres in New York, NY
A Dream Play is produced by Max Reinhardt in Stockholm at the Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theatre.
Dantons Tod (Danton's Death) by Georg Büchner is produced by Max Reinhardt at Großes Schauspielhaus, Berlin
Die Rauber (The Robbers) by Frederich Schiller is produced at the Großes Schauspielhaus, Berlin
Director: Karl Heinz Martin
Cast: 800+
Murder Hope of Women by Oskar Kokoschka has an operettic adaptation created by Hindemith
Woyzeck by Georg Büchner is produced by Max Reinhardt at the Deutches Theater, Berlin
29-SEPT: Masse Mensch (Mass Man) by Ernst Toller premieres at Volksbühne, Berlin
Director: Jurgen Fehling
PLAYS WRITTEN
Mathusalem (Methusalem) by Yvan Goll (Paris, France)
PLAYS WRITTEN
Gas II by Georg Kaiser
Masse Mensch (Mass Human) by Ernst Toller
FILM
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
From Morn 'till Midnight | The Cashier: Ernst Deutsch
Playwright: Georg Kaiser
Title in English: From Morn 'till Midnight
Silent Film: by Karlheinz Martin, Herbert JuttkeÂ
Murder Hope of Women by Oskar Kokoschka is produced by Max Reinhardt.
13-SEPT | Transfiguration at The Tribüne, Berlin
Playwright: Ernst Toller
Director: Karl HeinzMartin
Set Design: Robert Neppach
Fredrich: Fritz Kortner
Gas by Georg Kaiser is presented in Germany
PLAYS WRITTEN
Baal by Bertolt Brecht
The Immortal One by Ival Goll is written
Mystery Bouffee by Vladimir Mayakovsky is writeen in Moscow
Orpheus and Eurydike by Oskar Kokoscha is written
November 11: World War I ends
November 9: The November Revolution
PLAYS WRITTEN
Antigone by Walter Hasenclever
Ein Geschlecht (One Race) by Fritz von Unruh
Seeschlacht (Sea Battle) by Reinhard GoeringÂ
PLAYS WRITTEN
Vatermord (Patricide) by Arnolt Bronnen
July 28: Start of World War I
"Despite the facts that Expressionist plays were published and widely read in 1912, only a few were physically enacted before 1917." (Mel Gordon, Expressionist Texts, XX)
PLAYS INCLUDE...
Der Bettler (The Beggar) by Reinhard Sorge
Von Morgens Bit Mitternachts (From Morn to Midnight) by Georg Kaiser is written
Die Aktion Journal is founded by Franz Pfembert
PLAYS INCLUDE...
Sancta Susanna by August Stramm
Spring Awakening is performed in Berlin
THEATRE
The Lulu Plays by Frank Wedekind
MEDICAL FIELD
Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious is published by Sigmund Freud in Austria.
SCIENCE
The Theory of Relativity by Albert Einstein
PRESENTATION/DISPLAY
E. Gordon Craig is invited by Count Keller to present his ideas of theatrical design in Germany.
MANIFESTOS
Kaiser, Georg. The New Man, or Poetry & Energy was published.
TECHNOLOGY
Airplanes (worldwide)
1st taxis in Berlin
PLAYS WRITTEN
A Dream Play by August Strindberg
PLAYS PUBLISHED
Die Busche der Pandora (Pandora's Box) by Frank Wedekind
THEATRE
Max Reinhardt opens Kleines Theater, Berlin, Germany
Danton's Death (Bucher) premiered with 1 matinee at Neue Freie Volksbuhne, Berlin.
Erdgeist (Earth Spirit) produced by Max Reinhardt at the Kleines Theater, Berlin, Germany.
THEATRE
Munich, Germany: 10 Vaudeville Theatres
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life by Sigmund Freud
EDUCATION
University of Heidelberg (Germany) allows women for the first time.
PLAYS
A Dream Play by August Strindberg premieres at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm. Strindberg was unhappy with this production.
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Crimes and Crimes by August Strindberg
To Damascus by August Strindberg
PRODUCED
Erdgeist (Earth Spirit) by Frank Wedekind produced. Wedekind performed in the play.
POLITICAL EVENTS
Jugenbwegung (Youth Movement) founded in Germany to offer youth ideals to live by that aligned with German social standards.
PUBLISHED
Studies of Hysteria by Sigmund Freud (medical text) published in Austria.
WRITTEN
Erdgeist (Earth Spirit) by Frank Wedekind
by Edvard Munch
PUBLISHED
4-JAN: Lay Down Your Arms (Die Waffen Nieder) by Albert Fried (pacifist journal publication begins) | The journal was named after Bertha von Sutter's novel of the same name.
Degeneration, by Max Nordau (medical publication) | Nordau claims artists who are degenerate are incurably mentally ill.
Spring's Awakening is written by Frank Wedekind
Electricity in theatres
Invention of Lightbulb
The Birth of Tragedy by Fredrich Nietzsche