Nazi flags on the Ring
Shock action: “Hitler” stands on the Burgtheater balcony
The Burgtheater is flagged in red, military music blares across the Ring and a "Hitler" addresses passers-by in a continuous loop: Director Martin Kušej's "farewell gift" is shocking. Likewise his last words to the Viennese ...
"I give you to the brown brood in Vienna as my farewell gift", action artist Flatz quotes the outgoing Burgtheater director Kušej. And this gift has a lot to offer: first of all, a taps strike, during which two brass players play "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" and "Junge, komm bald wieder", heralds the satire on Hitler's "Pearl Speech". He gave this 86 years ago from the historic balcony on Vienna City Hall, which was built especially for him and still exists today - directly opposite the Haus am Ring.
The balcony was reconstructed for the installation at the Burgtheater and flown with ten red flags. The model is clearly recognizable, but instead of a swastika, the head of the German mastiff "Hitler" - the action artist's dog that died in 1998 - is emblazoned in the middle. And if that wasn't enough to attract attention, "Hitler" greets you above the balcony in a continuous loop and in triplicate.
Bibiana Beglau, who also appears on stage in Flatz's play, slips into the role of the dictator. During rehearsals, people could be seen playing dogs, among other things. "I wanted real sheepdogs, but that fell victim to the bureaucracy of the theater," says the performance artist, whose performance is not without controversy even in the cultural sector. "I've only known for three weeks that it's going to work. The only one who had balls was Kušej. If it hadn't been for him, the play certainly wouldn't have happened," says Flatz.
Hitler's "pearl speech"
The speech that Adolf Hitler gave in the ballroom of Vienna City Hall on the "Day of the Greater German Reich" on 9 April, the day before the "referendum" on the "Anschluss" of Austria to the German Reich in 1938, is known as the "Pearl Speech" thanks to a short passage in which he highlighted Vienna: "In my eyes, this city is a pearl - I will bring it into the form that is worthy of this pearl ..."
In any case, the installation, with which Flatz wants to expose Hitler's speech and the reaction of Austrian and Viennese politics to ridicule, is sure to attract widespread attention: thousands of Viennese and tourists are cavorting just opposite at the Steiermark-Frühling on Rathausplatz at the weekend ...
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