June 5, 2026, Berlin: Dance on the Volcano
Friday, June 5, 2026 at 7.00 pm
Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin
Stauffenbergstraße 1 | 10785 Berlin | Germany
Dance on the Volcano – A Revue
Berlin in the 1920s: hyperinflation, economic crisis, social destitution, political street battles, Dada, Bauhaus, New Objectivity, jazz, cabaret, exuberant new art forms, and an escape into the illusion of cinema and operetta.
All of this existed side by side and intertwined. And right in the middle of it all: Erwin Piscator (1893–1966), the legendary founder of political and epic theater. Shaken and traumatized by his frontline experiences in World War I, Piscator sought to shake up society and bring about change through his theater. In his hotly debated productions, he brought pressing political and social issues to the stage.
When history is in turmoil, the stage is the best place for honest reflection, and the revue is the mirror of change. Experience the vibrant Berlin of the turn of the century in “Dance on the Volcano”—with texts by Valeska Gert, Erich Mühsam, Erwin Piscator, Joseph Roth, Kurt Tucholsky, and others, set to music by Paul Abraham, Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky, Kurt Weill, and others.
Cast:
Neelam Brader, mezzo-soprano
Patrick Lammer, baritone
Christa Pillmann, actress
Masha Yulin, piano
Director: Gregorij H. von Leïtis
Assistant Director: Joshua Schubert
Concept and Introduction: Michael Lahr von Leïtis
Under the patronage of Dr. Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Antisemitism
Admission: Free
Reservations are required and can be made here
Presented by Elysium – between two continents, and The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive, in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin and the Leo Baeck Institute New York / Berlin
June 8, 2026, Munich: Dance on the Volcano
Monday, June 8, 2026, 7.30 pm
Münchner Künstlerhaus
Lenbachplatz 8 | 80333 München | Germany
Dance on the Volcano – A Revue
Berlin in the 1920s: hyperinflation, economic crisis, social destitution, political street battles, Dada, Bauhaus, New Objectivity, jazz, cabaret, exuberant new art forms, and an escape into the illusion of cinema and operetta.
All of this existed side by side and intertwined. And right in the middle of it all: Erwin Piscator (1893–1966), the legendary founder of political and epic theater. Shaken and traumatized by his frontline experiences in World War I, Piscator sought to shake up society and bring about change through his theater. In his hotly debated productions, he brought pressing political and social issues to the stage.
When history is in turmoil, the stage is the best place for honest reflection, and the revue is the mirror of change. Experience the vibrant Berlin of the turn of the century in “Dance on the Volcano”—with texts by Valeska Gert, Erich Mühsam, Erwin Piscator, Joseph Roth, Kurt Tucholsky, and others, set to music by Paul Abraham, Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky, Kurt Weill, and others.
Cast:
Neelam Brader, mezzo-soprano
Patrick Lammer, baritone
Christa Pillmann, actress
Masha Yulin, piano
Director: Gregorij H. von Leïtis
Assistant Director: Joshua Schubert
Concept and Introduction: Michael Lahr von Leïtis
Under the patronage of Dr. Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Antisemitism
Admission: € 30, reduced € 20
Under 30 years: € 10 (at the box office, subject to availability)
People with severe disabilities (GdB 50 or higher) can purchase discounted tickets by presenting proof of their disability at the box office or ticket counter at the Münchner Künstlerhaus
Get your tickets here
Presented by Elysium – between two continents, and The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive, in cooperation with the Künstlerhaus Munich, supported by the Consulate General of the Republic of Austria in Munich
June 16, 2026, Berlin: “With bound Hands” … “Fall Into the Spokes of the Wheel”
Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 7.30 pm
Karl Jaspers Gesellschaft e.V.
Unter den Eichen 22 | 26122 Oldenburg | Germany
“With bound Hands” … “Fall into the Spokes of the Wheel”
Key texts by Alfred Delp and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Catholic and Jesuit Alfred Delp and the Protestant and student pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer were intellectual pioneers in their respective circles. Out of deep Christian conviction, they warned early on about the dangers of the Nazi regime and were active in the resistance against Hitler and his destructive, inhuman ideology. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested in April 1943 when his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi’s plans for a coup were uncovered. Alfred Delp was arrested after Count Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt on July 28, 1944. In the final months of the war, both were executed within a few weeks of each other: Delp on February 2, 1945, at the age of 37 in Berlin-Plötzensee, and 39-year-old Bonhoeffer on April 9, 1945, in the Flossenbürg concentration camp.
In view of global trends toward unvarnished authoritarianism and the increasing erosion of the foundations of our free and democratic constitutional order in Germany and elsewhere, it is worth reflecting on the clear, powerful words of Delp and Bonhoeffer and their attitude, which was born of deep faith and moral fortitude, and taking them as a guide for ourselves.
Admission: free
Concept and introduction: Michael Lahr von Leïtis
Read by Gregorij H. von Leïtis
Presented by Elysium – between two continents, and The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive, in cooperation with the Karl Jaspers Society e.V.
