78. “Das Grobe Hemd”

Folksstück by C. Karlweis
Performance at the Lessing Theater, Berlin

Schöllhöfer has turned from a poor devil into a money-spinner. In his youth, he struggled to make ends meet. Then he became an entrepreneur, and finally he retired with a tidy sum. In his eyes, only people who do what he does are sensible. Because "money makes the world go round". That is his world view. He has a son and a daughter. The son has studied engineering and traveled. He lives a brisk, smart life on his father's money. All this pleases the old man. After all, why should the rich Schöllhöfer's son let himself get away with anything? He's got it. Nor does the father dislike the fact that the "Bua" is looking for a job. If he really wants to earn his clothes, he may do so. But the young man has other quirks. He is a socialist and in theory despises the blood money that his father has stolen from the workers, even though in reality he lives on it. Something like that has to be cured. That is easy. Because the old Schöllhöfer has the necessary peasant shrewdness, and the young Schöllhöfer is a sheep's head who believes the clumsiest bears that are put on him. So the old man suddenly claims that he's gambled away all his money and that the "Bua" now has to support his father and sister from his head's labor. The daughter, who used to spend her time living a lazy life in the most beautiful dresses and hats, adapts to the new situation. She sweeps and mops the house, she cooks too. But things don't go well with the son. He can't stand the "rough shirt". He only begins to live again when his father explains to him that the loss of money was a ruse to cure him.

In my opinion, the material is only suitable for a farce. Karlweis begins like a comedy and ends like a farce. This shows a lack of sense of style. The style of the cover looks like a bad joke.

The attitude expressed in the play is quite unbearable. Contemptible philistinism triumphs over a beautiful, albeit erroneous, sentiment. The superiority of the old philistine of the lowest sort over the young renegade is portrayed with nauseating importunity. A full purse is worth more than the noblest ideals. In the play, the world is seen from the point of view from which the uplifting saying is coined: "Money holds body and soul together."

Rudolf Tyrolt, as a guest of the Lessing Theater, played the old money-grubber with a fitting characterization.