Chansontage at the Michaelstein Monastery

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The GDR-open Chansontage Kloster Michaelstein were a meeting of mostly critical songwriters and folklorists in the Michaelstein Monastery , where "everyone was allowed to sing their song".

history

The GDR-open chanson days in the Michaelstein Monastery began as a private initiative of Wolfgang Schlemminger, who, out of his hobby, invited song people to the monastery , where he worked as a timpanist in the summer on the construction of the destroyed monastery and in the evening sang with guests around the campfire. In 1977, Gerhard Schöne passed on an invitation to Michaelstein to Werner Bernreuther , who went there and took over the chanson days as artistic director until the end of 1992. In the mid-1980s, the chanson was relocated to Langeln. The last time they took place in Wernigerode was in 1992.

Werner Bernreuther - artistic director

“I wanted the Michaelstein Monastery Chansontage to remain an oasis for song people among themselves”, was Bernreuther's claim. As deputy chairman of the song and cabaret section at the general directorate of the GDR committee for entertainment , responsible for training and further education and a member of the central honorary commission, he was the man from Berlin in the subordinate district hierarchy : “The rules were made in Berlin. And I was considered the one from Berlin . That was the game. And I have to say, I also enjoyed the game. ”At Michaelstein Monastery,“ everyone was allowed to sing their own song ”.

procedure

The Chansontage were primarily a workshop meeting with mostly amateur musicians , with a large number of them later receiving prizes at the National Chansontage and switching to professional status.

During the day, various workshop seminars (text, song, stage behavior, instrument ) were held with the lecturers present , and in the evening there was the singing competition in the monastery cellar, similar to that at the Wartburg . The three public events each included a sample concert and a final concert in the refectory as well as a children's program.

Mentors

were next to the actor and songwriter Werner Bernreuther drama professor Bernd Guhr, the writer Rainer Bonack, the luthiers Armin Gropp, Wolfgang Schlemminger as Grand Master of Ceremonies and others.

State institutions

The district cabinet for cultural work in Wernigerode (Beate Grüning) and the district cabinet for cultural work in Magdeburg took on the organization and financing. Various members of the councils of the district of Magdeburg and the district of Wernigerode supported the Chansontage personally by officially opening the days or being present, or through their institutions: district and district cabinets for cultural work.

Decomposition measures by the MfS

From 1984 onwards, Major Ulrich Kolbe (alias Werner Weber) collected extensive material in the form of lists of participants, personal identification numbers, addresses, personality analyzes and drafted plans for “operative penetration for the purpose of identifying, clearing up, influencing and, if necessary, breaking down or prosecuting subversive persons, groups and projects and plans in the relevant 'scene' ”. For him, most of the participants were enemies of the state and "there were ... only a very small number of participants who showed a positive, partisan attitude with a clear statement in one or more songs." However, his plan of action has not changed the character or composition of the chansontage. Despite Major Kolbe's intervention, the representatives of the district and district councils did not allow themselves to be dissuaded from continuing to support the chanson days.

The photographer Brigitte Kühlewind was later imprisoned.

The nocturnal singing competition and the public concerts were recorded on a reel tape . Major Kolbe tried to get hold of the tapes. Wolfgang Schlemminger managed to keep them safe.

Participants in the chansontage

Reinhold Andert , group beginning of March, group Aufwind , Dieter Beckert , Norbert Bischoff, Bodewell & Stoy, Andreas Breitenstein, Reinhard Drogla, Jürgen Eger, Ralf Elsässer, Frank and Frey, Gerald Fuchs, Volkmar Funke, Michael "Massa" Großwig, ​​Dietmar Halbhuber , Thomas Hanke, Rainer Hochmuth, Uwe Hollack, Dieter Kalka , Stephan König , Stefan Brigitte Kühlewindt (photographer), Ehrlich Lied with Stephan Krawczyk , Uta Mannweiler ( DFZ ), Kerstin Marx, Ralf Mattern , Menzel Menzel Mau, Akram Mutlak, Andreas Nath, Michael Pein, Piatkowski & Rieck , Dieter Pichowski, Andreas Reimann , Thomas Riedel, Martin Rühmann, Joachim Schäfer , Wolfgang Schlemminger, Hubertus Schmidt and Susanne Grütz, Ilona Schlott, Jörg Schneider, Gerhard Schöne , Rainer Schulze, Wolf-Dieter Skibba, Stefan Töpelmann , Ullmann, Frank Viehweg , Dietmar Voigt, the Wacholder group , Hans-Eckardt Wenzel , Wildemann group, Jürgen B. Wolff , Jens-Paul Wollenberg with the Huywäldler group alias Munzenberger Gevattern-Combo al ias Tuchhübel, Maria Ziemer, Gabriele Zimmermann, a. a.

Later winners at the National Chansontage

were Dieter Beckert, Norbert Bischoff, Dieter Kalka, Stephan König, Stephan Krawczyk, Susanne Grütz, Piatkowski & Rieck, Joachim Schäfer, Ilona Schlott, Hubertus Schmidt, Gruppe Wildemann, Jürgen B. Wolff, u. a.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernreuther - Guru of the East German songwriters
  2. ↑ Materials on music history: Werner Bernreuther on the chanson assembly in the Michaelstein monastery
  3. ↑ all information and the following programs and lists of participants, also from BSTU documents
  4. ↑ Real name Ulrich Kolbe, geb. May 24, 1933 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, according to BSTU Magdeburg, letter of September 4, 2002, 000199 / 93M
  5. ↑ all quotes and information, including lists of participants from BSTU Magdeburg, Department XX, 3827, Werner Weber, Operation "Fly Trap"
  6. ↑ The resurgence of the East German songwriting scene, part 1
  7. ↑ Photos and statements of inmates in Hoheneck Prison
  8. ↑ The resurgence of the East German songwriting scene, part 2
  9. ^ Website of the Wildemann Group