The invitation to dinner led to a lifelong friendship between writers: Anna and Friedrich Schlotterbeck had lived in Groß Glienicke near Potsdam since 1956, with concentration camp imprisonment and exile, relocation to war-ravaged Dresden and arrest by the state security service behind them. Christa and Gerhard Wolf moved to Kleinmachnow in 1962, to the outskirts of Potsdam. They enjoyed an unreservedly open culture of dialogue with the Schlotterbecks, which gave them critical insights into the political present. At the same time, their meetings were characterised by joie de vivre and serenity, by the desire to enjoy life after all the hardships.

Actor Marcus Kaloff and literary scholar Jan Kostka explore the evidence of this friendship. They will read from letters and memoirs in which Christa Wolf and Friedrich Schlotterbeck negotiate the possibilities of political engagement, but in which everyday life as writers and cooking recipes also have their place. The eventful biographies of Anna and Friedrich Schlotterbeck are reconstructed - a portrait emerges of two people who, despite all their painful experiences, created "an oasis of friendliness, affection, experience, fearlessness, cheerfulness and humour" (Christa Wolf).

An event organised by the Bautzner Straße Memorial in cooperation with Gedenkstätte Münchner Platz Dresden / Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten.

Image

Photo: Anna and Friedrich Schlotterbeck, © Wilfriede Hess

Admission free.