Agnes Bernauer Festival
At the Agnes Bernauer Festival every four years since 1935 (with two interruptions due to the Second World War and organizational changes), amateur actors have performed a play about the life and death of Agnes Bernauer in the courtyard of the Straubing Duke's Palace. The play of the first festival in 1935, which was still strongly influenced by NSDAP ideas, was written by Eugen Hubrich and revised and adapted to current tastes from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The festival has been organized by the Straubing Agnes-Bernauer-Festspielverein since 1953. After several years of internal discussions, in the 1990s he ordered a new play from the Kötzting author duo Johannes Reitmeier and Thomas Stammberger , which was performed from 1995 to 2007 inclusive and was characterized by a change from high-linguistic aristocratic scenes and vernacular folk scenes. For 2011 and 2015, Johannes Reitmeier again wrote a new piece that used a (most likely fictional) trial against Agnes Bernauer as a framework. The piece for the 2019 Festival was penned by Stern journalist and author Teja Fiedler .
The main character of the festival, the Swabian bather's daughter Agnes Bernauer, was the partner (and perhaps also the first wife) of the Bavarian Duke Albrecht III in the 1430s . (1401–1460, ruling duke since 1438), with whom she apparently lived primarily at Blutenburg Castle , which Albrecht had expanded at the time. Agnes' partner came into conflict with his father, Duke Ernst (1373–1438, ruling duke with changing co-regents since 1397), who drowned Agnes Bernauer in 1435 without major legal formalities at Straubing in the Danube . In addition to the festival, a chapel built by Ernst's order in 1436 in the cemetery of St. Peter zu Straubing still commemorates the woman from Bernau.
Historical background
Agnes Bernauer was probably born around 1410; she is traditionally considered the daughter of the Augsburg Bader Kaspar Bernauer, whose existence has not yet been proven. Since the Bavarian duke's son Albrecht III. Participated in a tournament in Augsburg in February 1428 , it is often assumed that he met Agnes on this occasion and brought him to Munich shortly afterwards.
By the summer of 1432 at the latest, Agnes Bernauer was a fixture at the Munich court. She managed to arrest the robber baron Münnhauser, who had fled to the Alte Veste , and aroused the ire of Count Palatine Beatrix , Albrecht's younger sister , with her self-confident demeanor . It is possible that Agnes and Albrecht were already married at this point, but there is no concrete evidence of a marriage. Albrecht's frequent stays at Blutenburg Castle since the beginning of 1433 and the sale of two nearby farms to Agnes in January of this year suggest that the couple lived there together.
Duke Ernst, Albrecht's father, obviously could not accept the endangerment of the succession through the improper association of his only son. While Albrecht was at a hunting event of his relative Heinrich von Bayern-Landshut , the old Duke had Agnes arrested and drowned on October 12, 1435 near Straubing in the Danube without further legal formalities. Ernst's official justification for the execution of the Bernauerin can be found in the instructions with which he sent his confidante Friedrich Aichstetter to Emperor Sigismund on October 28, 1435 .
Agnes Bernauer was a "bad woman", his son had been depressed about her since the beginning of the 1430s. Ernst finally became afraid for Albrecht's life, especially since he had heard that Agnes wanted to murder himself and his young nephew Adolf , the son of his brother and co-regent Wilhelm . After there was no end in sight to the threat to his family from this woman, he had her drowned. Unfortunately, however, Ludwig the Bearded of Bavaria-Ingolstadt , an old rival of Ernst, whom the Emperor already knew as a troublemaker, had drawn Albrecht to his court. Sigismund should recommend the young duke to return to his father and follow his instructions. Ernst only wanted to help his son, whose relationship with Agnes Bernauer had damaged the reputation of the Bavarian princes abroad.
Albrecht was reconciled with his father after a few months - perhaps the emperor had actually mediated between the Bavarian dukes, similar to the Preßburg arbitration a few years earlier - and married Anna of Braunschweig in November 1436. In December 1435 he himself donated a perpetual mass and an anniversary to Agnes Bernauer in the Straubing Carmelite monastery , Ernst had an Agnes Bernauer chapel built in the cemetery of St. Peter zu Straubing in 1436, probably to appease his son , which still exists today .
It is uncertain whether Agnes was buried in the cloister of the Carmelite monastery, as she wished, or whether Albrecht arranged for the bones to be transferred to the chapel dedicated to her. In any case, a gravestone made of red marble was set in the floor of the chapel, on which Agnes Bernauer is depicted almost life-size. The relief shows the deceased lying with her head on a large pillow. With her right hand, adorned with two rings, she is holding a rosary , two small dogs at her feet are supposed to show her the way to the afterlife.
History of the Festival
Bernauer dramas have been staged in Straubing since 1790, including the tragedies by Joseph August von Toerring , Melchior Meyr and Martin Greif . For 1913 performances by Greif's Agnes Bernauer, the angel of Augsburg are attested. The tragedy Duchess Agnes by Paul Langenscheidt , the son of the dictionary pioneer Gustav Langenscheidt , was also played.
Third Reich
The first Agnes Bernauer Festival in the courtyard of the Straubing Ducal Palace took place in 1935 on the initiative of the local NSDAP . The piece that was performed, Die Agnes Bernauerin zu Straubing, came from NSDAP district culture warden Eugen Hubrich , who had already written open-air plays for the Further Drachenstich and the 900th anniversary of the city of Amberg . The first festival was a great success with the public, and so the Agnes Bernauer Festival took place again as early as 1937, this time under the patronage of the NSDAP Gauleiter Fritz Wächtler .
Hubrich, according to his own statements “National Socialist out of idealism [...] but also with enthusiasm”, wanted with his play not only to stimulate tourism, but also to do justice to the National Socialist conception of art. He described his intention in the style of the time: “The great-great-grandchildren should feel like their ancestors felt in the same place, but they should also recognize that Agnes was a popular sacrifice that was devoured by the cruel Middle Ages, but that can rise in purity in the happy time, which brings about the renewal of blood and custom by the people from the primordial source of life. "
post war period
After 1945, those responsible for the Straubing Festival, which were organized in the Agnes-Bernauer-Festspielverein in 1953, tried to tighten Hubrich's four-act Bernauerin zu Straubing , linguistically modernize it and free it from folk ideas.
The author himself took on this task for the first post-war festivals in 1952 and 1954. In 1965 the Festival Association tried in vain to win over Carl Orff , who had already dealt with the subject in Die Bernauerin , to revise the Hubrich play. In 1968 and 1972 director Lutz Burgmayer, in 1976 Klaus Schlette and in 1980, 1984 and 1989 finally director Hans Vicari made further adaptations.
Newer pieces
In 1994, after long discussions and an author competition, which had no clear result, the Festival Association commissioned Johannes Reitmeier and Thomas Stammberger to create a new play.
Since 1995 Agnes has been Bernauer. A history game in 15 pictures as before Die Agnes Bernauerin zu Straubing performed every four years in the courtyard of the Straubing Duke's Palace. In 1995 and 1999, as before, Hans Vicari directed, in 2003, 2007 and 2011 (co-) author Johannes Reitmeier. The festival for the 50th anniversary of the association in 2003 was under the patronage of Franz von Bayern , who as head of the House of Wittelsbach is a distant relative of the Dukes Ernst and Albrecht. In 2011 and 2015 a piece was played in twelve pictures, which in turn came from Reitmeier's pen.
Orffs Bernauerin was performed in the years 1997, 2005 and 2013 when there was no festival .
The text for the 2019 Festival was written by the journalist and author Teja Fiedler , the direction was taken over by Andreas Wiedermann and the patronage was the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder . On May 17, 2018, the actors for Agnes and Albrecht were officially presented, the performances took place from June 21, 2019 to July 27, 2019. Due to a combination of rainy weather and good audience participation, a total of three additional performances were scheduled, which extended the festival season by a week.
Chronological overview
Unless otherwise noted, the following information is provided by Dorit-Maria Krenn, Werner Schäfer: Who was Agnes Bernauer? Straubing 2015, p. 84 .
| year | Author (s) | Director | Agnes | Albrecht |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Eugen Hubrich | Fritz Schefbeck | Mathilde readers | Fritz Schefbeck |
| 1937 | Eugen Hubrich | Hans Pössenbacher | Rola Angermeier Aloisia Firmthaler |
Hermann Reichenberger Willi Lermer |
| 1952 | Eugen Hubrich | Josef Zeitler | Frieda Slapeta | Willi Lermer |
| 1954 | Eugen Hubrich | Fritz Schefbeck | Liesl Hölzlwimmer | Franz Forchheimer |
| 1957 | Eugen Hubrich | Fritz Schefbeck | Renate Mayer Reserl Ebner |
Alfred Dick |
| 1960 | Eugen Hubrich | Fritz Schefbeck | Erika Reitbauer Lilo brooch |
Lutz Burgmayer |
| 1964 | Eugen Hubrich | Fritz Schefbeck | Heidi Ziegmann Reserl Stegbauer |
Lutz Burgmayer |
| 1968 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Lutz Burgmayer) |
Lutz Burgmayer | Ortrun Rademacher Lilo Klaube |
Michael Hecht |
| 1972 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Lutz Burgmayer) |
Lutz Burgmayer | Ulrike Floßmann | Hubert Fischer |
| 1976 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Klaus Schlette ) |
Hans Vicari | Birgit Floßmann | Karl-Heinz Schneider |
| 1980 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Hans Vicari) |
Hans Vicari | Claudia Mayer | Reinhold Perlak |
| 1984 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Hans Vicari) |
Hans Vicari | Ulrike Kaunzner | Fritz Geisperger |
| 1989 | Eugen Hubrich (edited by Hans Vicari) |
Hans Vicari | Rose-Marie Limbrunner | Hannes Brunner |
| 1995 | Johannes Reitmeier , Thomas Stammberger | Hans Vicari | Claudia Griessl Daniela Wrona |
Reinhard Röhrl Richard Hobmeier |
| 1999 | Johannes Reitmeier, Thomas Stammberger (edited by Hans Vicari) |
Hans Vicari | Feride Niedermeier | Rüdiger Kuchler |
| 2003 | Johannes Reitmeier, Thomas Stammberger | Johannes Reitmeier | Sabine Hilmer | Michael Wittenzellner |
| 2007 | Johannes Reitmeier, Thomas Stammberger | Johannes Reitmeier | Carmen Hartmannsgruber | Sascha Edenhofer |
| 2011 | Johannes Reitmeier | Johannes Reitmeier | Freya Hupf | Franz Aichinger |
| 2015 | Johannes Reitmeier | Alfred Jurgasch | Anna Lummer | Daniel Edenhofer |
| 2019 | Teja Fiedler | Andreas Wiedermann | Kristina Kohlhäufl | Ben Groschl |
literature
- Dorit-Maria Krenn, Werner Schäfer: Who was Agnes Bernauer? Attenkofer, Straubing 2015, ISBN 978-3-942742-49-8 , pp. 58-75, 84 .
- Claudia Märtl : Straubing. The execution of Agnes Bernauer in 1435 . In: Alois Schmid , Katharina Weigand (Hrsg.): Schauplätze der Geschichte in Bayern . CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50957-6 , p. 149-164 .
- Marita Panzer: Agnes Bernauer. The murdered 'Duchess' . Pustet, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7917-2045-6 .
- Werner Schäfer: Agnes Bernauer. History - poetry - picture . Attenkofer, Straubing 1995, ISBN 3-931091-02-3 .
- Werner Schäfer, Hubert Fischer: Agnes Bernauer in Straubing. The festival - the festival association . Attenkofer, Straubing 2003, ISBN 3-931091-97-X .
- Ulli Scharrer: Agnes Bernauer Festival. On, behind and around the stage . Attenkofer, Straubing 2007, ISBN 978-3-936511-47-5 .
- Hans Schlosser : Agnes Bernauerin (1410–1435). The myth of love, murder and reasons of state . In: Journal of the Savigny Foundation for Legal History . German Department . tape 122 , 2005, pp. 263-284 .
Web links
Remarks
- ^ Discussion on Kaspar Bernauer in Marita Panzer: Agnes Bernauer. The murdered 'Duchess' . Regensburg 2007, p. 11-15 . Claudia Märtl , referring to the scant evidence of an origin from Augsburg, suspects that Agnes attracted Albrecht's attention as a maid at the Munich court, see Claudia Märtl: Straubing. The execution of Agnes Bernauer in 1435 . In: Alois Schmid , Katharina Weigand (Hrsg.): Scenes of history in Bavaria Place = Munich . 2003, p. 154 .
- ↑ Marita Panzer: Agnes Bernauer. The murdered 'Duchess' . Regensburg 2007, p. 43-45 .
-
↑ Bavarian duke documents from 1435:
Bavarian Main State Archives, Fürstensachen IV, fol. 213–214 (after Alfons Huber, Agnes Bernauer im Spiegel der Quellen , pp. 24–25).
Princely matters IV, fol. 300–301 (after Alfons Huber, Agnes Bernauer im Spiegel der Quellen , pp. 26–32). On this, Marita Panzer, Agnes Bernauer , pp. 89–92.
Princely matters IV, fol. 307 (after Alfons Huber, Agnes Bernauer im Spiegel der Quellen , pp. 32, 38). - ^ Description and illustration of the tombstone in Marita Panzer: Agnes Bernauer. The murdered 'Duchess' . Regensburg 2007, p. 118-121 .
- ↑ Hans Vicari: A blond angel hovers over the city . In: Straubinger Tagblatt . June 27, 2015, p. 45 .
- ↑ Eugen Hubrich: The Agnes Bernauerin to Straubing. Outdoor play . Straubing 1935. Detailed information on the creation, performance and content of the play Michaela Goos: The Agnes Bernauer Festival in Straubing . Munich 1994, p. 7–74 (master's thesis).
- ↑ Hubrich's defense for the Spruchkammerverfahren 1947 and his article Agnes Bernauer - from a volkisch view of July 20, 1935 quoted from Werner Schäfer: Agnes Bernauer in Straubing. The festival - the festival association . Straubing 2003, p. 77, 109 .
-
^ Johannes Reitmeier, Thomas Stammberger: Agnes Bernauer. A history game in fifteen pictures . Agnes-Bernauer-Festspielverein, Straubing 1995 (partially revised by Johannes Reitmeier for the 2003 and 2007 festivals). On the history of the Agnes Bernauer Festival in Straubing in general and the search for a new piece in the 1990s in particular Werner Schäfer: Agnes Bernauer in Straubing. The festival - the festival association . Straubing 2003.
- ^ Johannes Reitmeier: Agnes Bernauer. Historical drama in twelve pictures . Straubing 2011.
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↑ For the announcement see Monika Schneider-Stranninger: Only the outcome of the story is the same. A look into the crystal ball: The Agnes Bernauer Festival year 2019 is already present . In: Straubinger Tagblatt . December 30, 2017, p. 37 ( online ). On the occasion of the premiere in June 2019, Hans Kratzer: Agnes Bernauer Festival. From whore to folk heroine . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . June 21, 2019 ( online ). Discussion of the premiere and reference to Markus Söder in Monika Schneider-Stranninger: In the sky of the festival summer . In: Straubinger Tagblatt . June 24, 2019 ( online ).
- ↑ Ulli Scharrer: This is the new ducal couple . In: Straubinger Tagblatt . May 18, 2018 ( online ).
- ↑ 1st additional performance on Saturday, July 27, 2019 ; Agnes Bernauer Festival 2019 .
- ^ People according to Hans Kratzer: Agnes-Bernauer-Festspiele. From whore to folk heroine . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . June 21, 2019 ( online ).