Bleiberger Knappenspiel

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The Bleiberger Knappenspiel is a singspiel by the Austrian writer Karl Leopold Schubert (1893–1983). He wrote it in 1956. Until 1997, the piece, which was revised several times in the 20th century, was performed annually in the Perscha colliery, the rock theater in what is now the Terra Mystica mine , in Bad Bleiberg in Carinthia . In 2017, after a break of 20 years, there was a new production with songs by the composer Gerd Schuller and texts by the theater maker Jörg Schlaminger .

content

The Bleiberger Knappenspiel is about the events after the Battle of Belgrade in 1717 in the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War . At that time, Bleiberger miners also fought alongside the imperial troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy . As a thank you they received a captured Ottoman flag from him, which is now kept in the museum of the Terra Mystica mine and is considered to be the oldest miner's flag in Europe. This part of the plot is historically proven.

The part of the play in which the Bleiberger squire Peter Mühlbacher composes the folk song Prinz Eugen, the noble knight, as thanks for Prince Eugen, is fictional. In the new version from 2017, the love story between the miner and the sutler Marei, only hinted at in the original Knappenspiel, was expanded.

background

Most of the leading male roles in both the old and the new production were cast by members of the MGV Morgensonne Kreuth men's choir from Bad Bleiberg.

After a 20-year break in 2017, the revival was organized by the Bad Bleiberg Mining Cultural Association , which is trying to continue the tradition of the miners even after the mine was closed in 1993.

The Bleiberger Knappenkultur has been part of the intangible cultural heritage in Austria since 2010 . The Bleiberger Knappenspiel is also mentioned in the relevant explanations of the responsible Austrian UNESCO Commission .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austria Forum. In: Schubert, Karl Leopold. Retrieved September 3, 2017 .
  2. ^ Georg Lux: Spectacular new staging in the mountain. In: Small newspaper. August 27, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Bleiberger Knappenkultur. In: Directory of the intangible cultural heritage in Austria. Austrian UNESCO Commission, accessed on September 3, 2017 .