The Captain of Koepenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick)

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  Max Hopp liest und spielt: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

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  Max Hopp liest und spielt: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

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  Max Hopp liest und spielt: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

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  Max Hopp liest und spielt: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

"There's no luck in it, and no bad luck in it either. It's pure injustice, plain and simple! There's more injustice in this world, lovely, full-blown injustice. No, they've been dragging me around for too long, they've woken me up now, there'll be no more snoozing, I want to know exactly what's going on now!"On the 16th of October 1906, the shoemaker Wilhelm Voigt stormed Köpenick Town Hall – dressed as an army captain and with an entourage of two troops of obedient soldiers. A spectacular coup and one of the most comical stories in German history, because it holds a mirror up to a society enraptured by the uniform. Echoes of the Captain of Köpenick can be found later in other characters such as Franz Biberkopf from "Berlin Alexanderplatz" or Beckmann from "Draußen vor der Tür", but none of these outsiders transform the figure of the military man in his country so cunningly. So he's not a captain after all, he's a human being, who doesn't fit into society and therefore ends up either standing in front of closed doors or being locked up behind closed doors. When Carl Zuckmayer adapted the story for the stage in 1931, he took a stance in opposition to the National Socialist regime, for which Joseph Goebbels threatened him with the prospect – just like his main character – of getting to know a Prussian prison from the inside.              Max Hopp, born in Köpenick himself, has created a staged reading with this famous Berlin play. He reads and plays the shoemaker Voigt, as well as the uniform tailor Wabschke, Mayor Obermüller, the Plörösenmieze (the lady in mourning) and many other characters from this true Köpenickiad, or what is sometimes known as the Eulenspiegel of the Wilhelmine military state. Hopp is accompanied by musician Doris Decker, who composed the music for the stage with Marlon Mausbach.

Artists/Collaborators: von Carl Zuckmayer (Autor/in), Max Hopp, Doris Decker (Saxophon, Melodika, Gesang), Max Hopp, Nils-Thore Grundke, Elina Schnizler, Doris Decker, Hans Fründt, Amely Joana Haag

Next date:

• Date Friday, 24/April/2026 19:30 bis 21:25 (3 more dates)
• Venue Berliner Ensemble - Großes Haus
• Address Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, 10117 Berlin-Mitte