Vor dem Rosa Winkel – Abschlusspräsentation

In the organizer's words:

"Visibility is resistance" - a phrase that sounds obvious today, but was dangerous in the 1920s. Before the Nazi regime used brutal violence against queer people, Düsseldorf was also home to an open, albeit vulnerable scene - full of conversation, longing and music. In bars, dance halls and back rooms, people celebrated, laughed, argued and loved - often secretly, sometimes boldly and visibly.

The Weimar Republic was a time of upheaval and uncertainty. While Section 175 continued to criminalize queer desire, new spaces for art, research and exchange emerged. People searched for language, for closeness, for moments of freedom - and at the same time knew how fragile they were. The first queer public also emerged in Düsseldorf, seeking expression in voice and movement.

But today we hardly know anything about these worlds. Only a few traces have been preserved, much has been suppressed or erased. What can we still read from them today - from the gaps, the silences, the remnants of music, dance and glances? And how can we not only preserve these fragments, but make them tangible?

In this third part of the Rosa Winkel trilogy, we look back at this time. The staged reading approaches an era in which queer life flourished - and in which tenderness itself became an act of courage. Historical traces, fragments, texts, voices and bodies are used to create a poetic approach to an almost forgotten queer past. What did this freedom sound like? How did it smell, how did it move, how did it feel? And what remains of it in us - today?

An intensive theater workshop about the realities of life for Düsseldorf's homosexuals between freedom and persecution in the Weimar Republic

Final presentation:
07.02. | 19:30
08.02. | 6 p.m.

Supporting program:
Historical introduction
(Lecture: Astrid-Hirsch von Borries, Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Düsseldorf)

Follow-up discussion
(Moderation: Sascha Förster, Theatermuseum Düsseldorf)

With teenagers and young adults aged 16-27

Artistic direction: Marvin Wittiber
Text: Simone Saftig & Ensemble
Set design: Alina Gorr

A production by Düsseldrama in cooperation with Theatermuseum Düsseldorf, Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Düsseldorf, Amt für Gleichstellung und Antidiskriminierung Düsseldorf and Queere Geschichte(n) Düsseldorf e.V. in cooperation with Stadtarchiv Düsseldorf and Lesben- und Schwulenbibliothek Düsseldorf (LuSBD) and funded by Kulturamt Düsseldorf

Price information:

10€ / 5€ (reduced) | Reservations: kasse_theatermuseum@duesseldorf.de or 0211 89-96139