65. “Das Käthchen von Heilbronn”

Play in five acts by Heinrich von Kleist
Performance at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin

Two basic traits are united in Kleist's nature. He combines a sense of the great and the powerful with a devotion to the mysterious, to the dark and incomprehensible forces in human life. These two directions of his work come together in wonderful artistic harmony in his historical knightly play "Das Käthchen von Heilbronn". Count Wetter vom Strahl is a truly chivalrous character, and he is gifted with a sentimental life like a mystical enthusiast. Käthchen von Heilbronn is a brave, well-behaved girl, and the chains that bind her to the count are mysterious. The natural and the supernatural work together in the drama in a way that only a poet can bring them together, who looks into natural reality with bold powers of observation and at the same time has the firm belief that this natural way of being is only one part of the world.

Kleist's ability to draw complicated characters is unlimited. There are few figures in poetry who stand before us as true as Käthchen's father, Theobald Friedeborn. It takes immeasurable poetic power to portray a man whose error is such a greatness. This Theobald Friedeborn could say the most banal and stupid things: we would be captivated by them as by the highest truths.

Emanuel Reicher's portrayal of this Friedeborn is perfect down to the smallest detail. I sat there with the deepest satisfaction, and with admiring excitement I followed the piece of psychology that Reicher reveals in his portrayal of the armourer from Heilbronn. This role by Reicher is one of those acting performances that you never forget once you've seen it.

And Agnes Sorma as Käthchen! I can't think of a more beautiful harmony between a simple, unpretentious bourgeois character and a dreamy, otherworldly nature. I have heard that there are people who have not felt this. But they have a preconceived idea of what something like that should be like. Agnes Sorma has the truest sense of what it is like.

Unfortunately, nothing in the world is perfect. And perhaps that's why Count Wetter vom Strahl was so inadequately represented by Hermann Leffler. It was unbearable for me to see this poor art next to the perfect art of Agnes Sorma and Emanuel Reicher. With Agnes Sorma everything seems natural, with Hermann Leffler everything seems made. Nothing comes naturally from his mouth, everything is forced. Nevertheless, it can be said that Otto Brahm deserves great credit for bringing our great Heinrich von Kleist back to vivid memory with this performance.