A political tragedy in the House of the Federal Press Conference („Haus der Bundespressekonferenz“)
„Ein Volksbürger“ (‘A People’s Citizen’) sharpens and updates the production based on the essay „Ein Volkskanzler“ (‘A People’s Chancellor’) by Max Steinbeis.
After NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS originally wanted to demonstrate a political attack on the sovereignty of the Federal Constitutional Court and thus the creeping appropriation of the judiciary by a populist chancellor at the Haus der Bundespressekonferenz, a process has now been set in motion that should lead to legal protective measures against this danger in the foreseeable future. However, the shift in the line of conflict now reveals another, no less explosive possibility: A democratically elected state government in which authoritarian-populist forces have the power of interpretation could cancel all agreements at federal level. It could use the supposed weakness of the community and the discrimination of its country and its citizens as an argument in favour of this measure. It is obvious that this strategy would also have repercussions within the European Union.
Federal coercion as the last line of defence
In the end, only ‘federal coercion’ will help: Article 37 of the Basic Law allows drastic measures to be taken against a state that refuses to fulfil its federal obligations, from blocking financial allocations to sending a federal commissioner. This article has never been applied in the history of the Federal Republic … but who knows? What if a newly elected prime minister seeks conflict with the federal government by any means necessary? What if he takes political advantage of this to stylise himself as a hero against the supposedly corrupt and incompetent parties and their apparatus? Whether the following drama tells the story of a cynical demagogue or an upright patriot – or whether these roles cannot be separated at all – will become clear as the conflict develops. In any case, the chancellor is forced onto the defensive by this attack because he has to defend the constitution against the threat of disintegration … a real tragedy in which irreconcilable positions clash and in the end the right of the strongest may prevail.
Real tragedy
The dramaturgical set-up for this scenario remains the same, with a series of press conferences showing the battle on a media level. The Prime Minister and the Federal Chancellor face each other as direct opponents, with alternating support on both sides from the fields of politics and the judiciary … and more or less critical journalists. The drama, which is being developed by Max Steinbeis and his team, is to be staged as a political lesson in cooperation with the Bundespressekonferenz e. V. A media evaluation is planned by ZDF/arte, and educational formats for a young audience will accompany the production. In order to make the work as realistic as possible and to be able to incorporate current developments, the scenario will be kept open until May 2024. The premiere will take place in September 2024.
Text and staging
The polished rhetoric, which masks legal finesse with popular slogans, is provided by Verfassungsblog founder Max Steinbeis. Director Nicola Hümpel will engage well-known actors for the leading roles alongside the established protagonists of her productions and, at the climax of the fiction, will provide a surprising, tragic twist that goes beyond the self-imposed framework. Until this revealing and redemptive moment, ‘A People’s Citizen’ will live above all from the intellectual precision and emotional pull of the story – as a seemingly abstract correction of the prevailing conditions, which nevertheless has very concrete effects on the lives of all citizens. It goes without saying that the journalistic elite also comes into focus alongside the political establishment, given the location of the performance.
The performances will be framed by an introduction and a panel discussion afterwards by representatives of the BPK board.
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…one of the more interesting theatrical contributions to the current political moment… The play’s strength lies precisely in not falling back on familiar tropes about the rise of fascism, but looking closely at what populists in power actually do.
Legal journalist Maximilian Steinbeis’s play A Citizen of the People shows how easy it could be for a party like AfD to upend the country’s 75-year-old democracy
A smile so sweet it will melt your heart, a handshake so earnest it will make you want to buy him a beer, and a stare from deep-set eyes so intense you will tremble for your children’s future: Dominik Arndt has the suave moves and terrifying looks typical of the rightwing politicians that are knocking on the gates of power all over Europe. Specifically, the lanky and youthful actor who plays Arndt, Fabian Hinrichs, looks a lot like Björn Höcke, the Thuringian politician many see as the boss in all but title behind Germany’s ascendant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.
But what makes Arndt so unsettling – and the play A Citizen of the People one of the more interesting theatrical contributions to the current political moment – is that he doesn’t speak like a rightwinger at all.
On the eve of his landslide victory in an unnamed German federal state, the political leader does not taunt his opponents, but vows to focus “on what we share, rather than what divides us”. The three pillars of his movement are not wedge issues like immigration, LGBT+ issues or anti-wokeness but “education, infrastructure, digitisation”. His party is not the AfD but the fictional Democratic Alliance, which has pegged back the far right to 10% of the vote: if it wasn’t for him, he reminds the audience at one point, “you know who would be sitting up here instead”.
The threat that Arndt poses to liberal democracy is nonetheless real, and even more dangerous because it is so insidious. By the end of A Citizen of the People, the Democratic Alliance has staged a coup without firing a shot.
“Of course someone like Björn Höcke is a rightwing extremist and extremely dangerous,” says Maximilian Steinbeis, a legal journalist who wrote the play. “But I don’t think the radical rhetoric is the key ingredient to what makes an authoritarian populist. A constitution can not only be upended from the political fringes, but also through the centre.”
Under the direction of Nicola Hümpel, A Citizen of the People tells the story of Arndt’s rise through a series of press conferences – staged at the end of September at the Berlin media centre where the real German government faces the media three times a week. It is now streaming for free with English, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish subtitles on Franco-German culture channel Arte.
The play’s strength lies precisely in not falling back on familiar tropes about the rise of fascism, but looking closely at what populists in power actually do. Since 2009, Steinbeis has edited verfassungsblog.de (“constitution blog”), a forum for debates around democratic states’ legal frameworks, which is mostly written in English.
“From the beginning, our focus was on authoritarian populism, especially of the type that we saw developing in Hungary,” he recalls. “Leaders like Viktor Orbán claim that there is such a thing as a true and authentic people, who are distinct from the political elite and their ‘system’. And they successfully pursue a strategy whereby every major political decision shores up that claim and makes it seem more real.”
In Hungary’s case, he says, Orbán was able to bend to his will a constitution that was particularly weak, amendable with a two-third majority in parliament. “But we were interested in whether the same political strategy could also work in countries with a supposedly stronger constitution, such as Germany.”
In 2019, Steinbeis published an essay in Süddeutsche Zeitung called The People’s Chancellor, which played through a scenario whereby a populist German leader bloats the constitutional court with a third senate made up of eight additional, politically loyal judges, and then limits its power to restrain the executive branch of government.
“Until then, the view in Germany was that we have had this great democracy for 75 years because of our Basic Law, and the constitutional court will protect it,” Steinbeis says. “But we said: look, the constitutional court is actually quite easy to crack.”
The essay, and a play by the same name, caused a stir, and kickstarted a political motion to close the loopholes it identified. A new law aimed to prevent “court packing” scenarios is expected to pass the German parliament before the end of the year, in spite of the recent collapse of chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government.
A Citizen of the People is an update on the same thought experiment, based on what currently looks a more likely scenario. In September, Höcke’s AfD gained a historic 32% of the vote at state elections in Thuringia. When the new state parliament convened three weeks later, it used its new strength to systematically block parliamentary procedures. “The AfD created its own kind of theatrical spectacle, all aimed at furthering the impression of a ‘people’s will’ frustrated by ‘the system’.”
In the play, the Democratic Alliance moves in a similarly sly manner. Arndt instructs his states’ immigration authorities to no longer process asylum applications, while shifting the blame to the central government: migrants no longer receive benefits and end up on the streets, homeless. When Berlin sends out a special commissioner to enforce compliance with federal rules, he is denied access to the rebelling state government’s offices. “The people elected me and not some kind of poodle,” Arndt bellows in a press conference.
A Citizen of the People is even more troubling than A People’s Chancellor, because unlike Steinbeis’s previous “what if?” scenario, it doesn’t suggest any easy fixes.
“I didn’t want to point out another loophole but demonstrate a dynamic process, and shake the audience out of their complacency,” Steinbeis says. “It’s an illusion to think that we can build a constitution that is so watertight that it can never be abused. Constitutions won’t protect societies; it’s society that has to protect the constitution.”
Rarely have stage spectacle and politics been so closely intertwined […] The simulation game, conceived by constitutional lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis and directed by Nicola Hümpel in the format of press conferences, also clearly showed how helpless and clueless defenders of democracy can appear when the other side acts cleverly […] ‘Ein Volksbürger’ brings the Berlin of 1932 and the Erfurt of 2024 into eerie proximity.
Rarely have stage spectacle and politics been so closely intertwined. In the Thuringian state parliament, the AfD faction dismantled the constituent session with destructive glee. And while people were still waiting for the Constitutional Court's decision on Friday, the play ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) outlined in the large hall of the Federal Press Conference in Berlin what can happen when democracy's enemies actually come to power through elections. The simulation, conceived by constitutional lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis and directed by Nicola Hümpel in the format of press conferences, also made it clear how helpless and clueless defenders of democracy can appear when the other side acts cleverly.
Bulwark against the right
There is also plenty of DaDa in his performance. Arndt sells himself as a bulwark against the right – the AfD only came third in this fictional state election with a good 10 per cent, as a bar chart briefly shows. But he pursues a fairly right-wing policy. He organises administrative failures to drive even refugees who have been granted the right to stay by the courts out of the Free State. The federal government intervenes, unimpressed, and pushes for the enforcement of federal laws. This leads to Arndt's big show: he is not a lapdog who allows laws to restrict his political actions, but a minister-president who only implements the will of the people.
That is the big question of the evening: does power come from the people, or is the constitution the basis for the exercise of power? What happens when the call for remigration, which DA voters emphasised with their crosses on the ballot paper, conflicts with internationally binding laws for the protection of threatened people?
The second big question of the evening is: How do you deal with a state government that openly disregards the law? In the play, this approach is called ‘executive disobedience.’ There are examples of this. Morgane Ferru, one of the journalists, briefly interrupts the press conference to remind the audience of Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder's refusal to implement a decision by the Munich Administrative Court on diesel driving bans. The Bavarian state government was even fined for this. In 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) saw no grounds for imposing coercive detention on Söder because this is not enshrined in the German legal system.
Nevertheless, the so-called federal coercion, Article 37 of the Constitution, provides a means for the Federal Government and the Bundesrat to send a representative, with the support of the federal police, to a renegade member state to enforce federal laws. There are historical examples of this. In 1932, the then Reich government deposed the Social Democratic Prime Minister of Prussia.
He had lost his majority after the state elections that same year, and the election winners, the NSDAP (37 per cent of the vote) and the KPD (13 per cent), prevented the formation of a new state government. There were riots and street battles until the National Socialists seized power completely a year later. ‘Ein Volksbürger’ brings the Berlin of 1932 and the Erfurt of 2024 into eerie proximity.
The performance collective ‘Nico and the Navigators’ and Fabian Hinrichs present an evening of political tutoring on the dangers of democracy. In the end, it is an ominous distinction on which everything hinges – namely that between ‘political responsibility’, which Arndt claims for himself, and the ‘specialised legal problems’, which he considers to be of secondary importance. This corresponds almost literally to what the leader of the strongest political force in Austria since Sunday is promising: If he comes to power, says Herbert Kickl, he would no longer accept any asylum applications – no matter what the law says.
While a ‘people's chancellor’ wins the election in Austria, a ‘people's citizen’ enters Germany's media heartland in Berlin. The top candidate of the recently founded ‘Democratic Alliance’ (DA) party makes his first appearance at the Federal Press Conference Centre. He has just achieved an absolute majority in the ‘Free State’ and can therefore govern without coalition partners.
‘Arndt’ is written on the nameplate, which a member of staff conscientiously places where the new Prime Minister is about to take his seat. When he enters the room, however, his bodyguard is the first to replace it with: ‘Dominik Arndt’ - it is important to the new man that people know his first name. In general, he talks a lot about dialogue and eye level, about direct conversation and open interaction. His political programme starts where most people's everyday lives begin: with dead spots, education issues and rural exodus.
The language he speaks also sounds more tangible than that of the previous speakers in this room. He is imbued with ‘passion for our country’, says Arndt and places a bottle of mineral water from his ‘Free State’ on the table. His party is liberal, social, alternative and, yes, also national. But that doesn't mean much more than what most people in his country feel: Belonging.
Branded a stylistic sin
The way Fabian Hinrichs plays this beaming election winner, there is nothing unbelievable about him. The idea that a new party with a reasonably charismatic leader could make huge electoral gains in a German federal state in a very short space of time may no longer surprise anyone who has followed the BSW's recent electoral successes, for example. At first, it is only his shirt that reveals something about the specific type of politician that Hinrichs wants to present on this theatre evening. It is the white shirt with dark-coloured marker buttons that is often worn by AfD politicians and branded a ‘style sin’ by capital city fashion critics, ‘whose deeper meaning remains hidden’ (‘Berliner Zeitung’).
Yet at least one meaning would be quite obvious - namely the desire to flaunt the claimed non-conformism by breaking the conventional innocent white with a rebellious colour element. Is this the aesthetic of resistance today? In any case, Hinrichs, who is currently writing a book on aesthetics himself, plays this man of power more as an implicit usurper. There can be no talk of a ‘seizure of power’ - even the Federal Chancellor congratulates him and the government spokeswoman readily admits that Arndt is ‘democratically elected and therefore to be taken seriously’.
But it is precisely this adjective, the concrete liability of the trust category ‘democratic’, that is the subject of the rest of this play, written by the committed lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis, which initially comes across as a bit schirky, but then provides interesting answers for the layman in constitutional law to the question that is currently being debated everywhere: ‘What if the populists come to power?’
For as soon as Arndt takes office, there are increasing indications that a ‘change of course’ in asylum policy is emerging in his federal state and that the law is being broken in immigration authorities. Of course, it is a journalist - the former Handelsblatt editor Steinbeis still has that much faith in his own guild - who uncovers abuses that were initially dismissed as ‘regrettable individual cases’ and has her research confirmed by the representative of an NGO. It is telling how director Nicola Hümpel stages the closeness between the capital's journalists and moral confidants: Business cards are exchanged and bribes are exchanged. But when guests from outside the milieu enter the room, facial expressions quickly harden. For example, a district administrator who talks about ‘Ukrainians in SUVs’ or ‘multicultural cities’ is immediately met with angry shaking of heads - not only from the actors, but also from the audience in the capital.
Dissolve the people?
The fact that fanfare music is always played during the district administrator's appearances corresponds to the negligent willingness to disparage everything down-to-earth as morally backward, which has caused a lot of political damage. And yet the theatre evening not only presents its own prejudices, but also spells out the escalation that would be possible if a prime minister defied the applicable federal law: first the federal government tries crisis diplomacy, then a commissioner and finally a (successful) lawsuit in Karlsruhe. When Arndt also disregarded this supreme judgement, Berlin sent the federal police to the ‘Free State’ to confiscate files and arrest the Minister President. He flees abroad and quotes Brecht: ‘Wouldn't it be easier if the government dissolved the people and elected another one?’
The performance collective ‘Nico and the Navigators’ and Fabian Hinrichs present an evening of political tutoring on the dangers of democracy. In the end, it is an ominous distinction on which everything hinges - namely that between ‘political responsibility’, which Arndt claims for himself, and the ‘specialised legal problems’, which he considers to be of secondary importance. This corresponds almost literally to what the leader of the strongest political force in Austria since Sunday is promising: If he comes to power, says Herbert Kickl, he would no longer accept any asylum applications - no matter what the law says.
The premiere of Nicola Hümpel’s production ‘Ein Volksbürger’ last Friday, exactly one day after the AfD used the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt for a spectacle of contempt for democracy, seems like the apt response of political theatre to such excesses of the theatricalisation of politics. When uninhibited polarisation poisons and overlays the debate and remnants of rational discourse, when parliaments are deliberately disparaged and misused as propaganda platforms, in this production the theatre conversely becomes an instrument of analysis.
Alongside the Bundestag, the glass box of the Federal Press Conference in Berlin's government district is the most important stage for announcements in day-to-day political business. Performing a one-off theatre play here, a farce about a charismatic right-wing populist's attempt to seize power, is more than just a pretty alienating effect in front of a familiar television set.
The premiere of Nicola Hümpel's production of ‘Ein Volksbürger’ last Friday, exactly one day after the AfD used the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt for a spectacle of contempt for democracy, seems like the apt response of political theatre to such excesses of the theatricalisation of politics. When uninhibited polarisation poisons and overlays the debate and the remnants of rational discourse, when parliaments are deliberately disparaged and misused as propaganda platforms, in this production theatre conversely becomes an instrument of analysis. It illuminates the manoeuvres of authoritarian national radicalism to destroy the democratic public sphere - for the purpose of political sobering up.
At the front of the hall, where politicians and their spokespeople normally answer questions, a right-wing populist virtuoso of power and manipulation by the name of Dominik Arndt now demonstrates how casually he knows how to undermine the rules of democracy. And because this self-declared ‘citizen of the people’ is played by Fabian Hinrichs, who is always super-sympathetic and at the same time tends to appear slightly insane, his performance develops considerable charisma: next to Hinrichs, average political routiners have at best the appeal of meeting minutes and the glamour factor of a draft bill.
Instead of answering the questions, the tribune of the people says: ‘I am here to offer you a new beginning’
The performance is a thought experiment on the resilience of the democratic constitutional state, a theatrical stress test that plays out how democratically elected democracy despisers could swiftly restructure and abuse state institutions - destroying the constitutional state with its own instruments. The script for this spooky stress test was written by an expert. Maximilian Steinbeis, a lawyer and journalist (occasionally a guest author for the SZ), is the founder and director of the influential Verfassungsblog and has worked with numerous experts in the ‘Thuringia Project’ to analyse the legal possibilities of an AfD participating in the government. The ‘Volksbürger’ scenario skilfully varies this: What happens if a right-wing populist head of government ignores laws and the break with the rule of law takes the form of administrative action?
The second thought experiment is a little more unpleasant: what if right-wing enemies of democracy do not disgrace themselves with SA slogans in the Höcke style, but instead present themselves as diffusely modern, preferring to talk about digitalisation while ignoring fundamental rights? What effect could it have on election results if right-wing demagoguery is not spread by behaviourally conspicuous figures and bizarre zealots as in the past, but by a TV-suitable charmer with the smooth manners of a showmaster?
Fabian Hinrichs appears as the newly elected Prime Minister of a federal state known only as ‘Free State’ with an absolute majority: An iron-willed, permanently smiling dazzler of the ‘Democratic Alliance’, who lets the questions of ZDF reporter Theo Koll (played by Theo Koll) roll off him like an unavoidable, but also completely unimportant nuisance. He immediately turns the Federal Press Conference into his stage and plays by his own rules right from the start. He confidently ignores the actual purpose of facing the journalists' critical questions. Instead, he fires off staccato phrases: ‘I am here to offer you a new beginning’, and of course with ‘passion for our country’.
The friendliness cast in reinforced concrete, the gestures that embrace everything and everyone are a single offer to replace politics as the resolution of conflicting interests with the elated feel-good delirium of a national community: We are us, and ‘we all need to talk to each other more’.
The well-rehearsed routines of the political establishment are failing in the face of the populist attack
The egoshooter programme of identity-political fundamentalism is enough for the postmodern tribune of the people to mark his political goals: ‘I am me’. That will have to do. As helplessly as the moderator of the Federal Press Conference (Klara Pfeiffer) reacts to the hijacking of her stage, the legal-formalistic statements of the overworked spokeswoman of the Federal Government (Annedore Kleist) seem tired and powerless in contrast to the turbo-charismatic. The well-rehearsed routines of the political business fail in the face of the populist attack. The district administrator from the deep provinces (Stefan Merki), whom the Minister President brings with him to report ‘here in Berlin’ on the imposition that the refugee centre in his district represents, is more pithy.
The political power behind the populist phrase machine is the abuse of the administration by undermining the rule of law. In the ‘Free State’, the offices for migration and refugees simply no longer process the files and people seeking protection end up homeless. Slightly exaggerated, these are probably the ‘well-dosed cruelties’ that the ‘remigration’ propagandist Höcke dreams of for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Populist government policy leads to discriminatory administrative behaviour, as has actually happened in Hungary, for example.
The performance plays out the attempt at a populist takeover in a federal state - right up to the intervention of the federal police - like a case study in a legal textbook. And that is exactly what this production is: instructive. Because the co-production with the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Staatstheater Karlsruhe is a game with the media public, it is only logical that ‘Ein Volksbürger’ will also be available in the Arte media library from 2 October.
Rarely are theatregoers so directly in the middle of the action […] Dominik Arndt is a populist who explains himself between the lines, and that is the appeal and the great strength of the play […] the play cleverly shows how democratic laws can be undermined en passant […] carried into the heart of society in an aesthetically thrilling way.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Federal Press Conference, Fabian Hinrichs and Nico and the Navigators show what happens when a populist party comes to power. The political farce depicts the rise of a populist prime minister in a German free state and the resulting threat to democracy in the Federal Republic. Fabian Hinrichs plays the leading role. He is joined by the Navigators in various roles and Theo Koll as a guest. The evening at the Federal Press Conference is based on the highly acclaimed research of the Verfassungsblog team led by founder and author Maximilian Steinbeis. This was followed by a panel discussion with the author and constitutional lawyer Steinbeis. The performances were broadcast live to the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe and the Babylon cinema in Berlin.
From 2 October, ‘Ein Volksbürger’ will also be available in the arte media library. (available until 2 October 2027)
Fabian Hinrichs plays the unshakeable and unbearable Dominik Arndt as a smart man of the people – and seducer who masters many tones […]
This ambitious evening naturally has a huge resonance in reality. There are no lines spoken on this (special) stage, no developments shown, that could not immediately become reality. Not only in Thuringia.
Who doesn't know it from the television news? The blue wall. The bright wooden letters on it promising: Federal Press Conference. Seated at the long counter are representatives of the federal government, political parties and associations of national importance, providing information to the journalists in front of them. On this evening, too, a few scattered reporters are scattered among the rows of chairs, and a politician has taken a seat at the front. There is even a whole series of press conferences. But the only thing real this evening is the impressive backdrop. The blue wall. The bright wooden letters on it that promise: Federal Press Conference. The rest is theatre. A political farce. Just a thought experiment. Hopefully. Dominik Arndt enters with a spring in his step, smiling warmly and greeting everyone politely. He has travelled directly from his Free State, where the Democratic Alliance party has just won the election with 44% of the vote. He walks straight up to Theo Koll's microphone – yes, it really is him interviewing him, but he hardly gets a word in.
Original sound Koll/Hinrichs
Believe that and you'll be happy. Citizen of the people Arndt hurries on, he has a press conference to give here, after all. At which he immediately tries to influence everyone, twists the critical words of inquiring journalists, constantly cuts off the moderator and never tires of proclaiming his ideas about the future politics and course of action in the Free State.
Original sound Hinrichs
The slip of the tongue is, of course, intentional, and according to Dominik Arndt's wishes, no asylum seekers should be granted residence permits. However, this is – in theory and in reality – federal law.
Original sound government spokesperson
In his text ‘Volksbürger’ (Citizen of the People), lawyer and author Maximilan Steinbeis plays through what happens in such an issue: The federal government sends a federal commissioner to study files on site and get an overview of the situation. If he is refused cooperation, as is the case here in the Free State, federal coercion remains. This is described in Article 37 of the Basic Law and serves to enforce law and order. In Dominik Arndt's case, even the federal police have to be called in. The prime minister flees. But give up? Never. From exile – via video link – he remains confident of victory. Fabian Hinrichs plays the unshakeable and unbearable Dominik Arndt as a smart man of the people – and seducer who masters many tones, from warm to imperious, quiet to loud, understanding to disturbing.
This ambitious evening naturally has a huge resonance in reality. There are no lines spoken on this (special) stage, no developments shown, that could not immediately become reality. Not only in Thuringia.
The production […] attaches great importance to presenting a realistic scenario […] Nevertheless, the evening also plays with political farce, with Fabian Hinrichs exaggerating and using irony […] A theatre evening that serves political enlightenment rather than art […]
On the 75th anniversary of the Federal Press Conference, Fabian Hinrichs and Nico and the Navigators show what happens when a populist party comes to power and does what it wants. The reality in Germany, however, is even more frightening.
The first projections appear on the screen at the Federal Press Conference: the Left Party, BSW and Greens are out of the state parliament, the SPD is in single digits and the CDU is at just under 20 per cent. The clear winner in the Free State is the DA with a whopping 44 per cent. DA stands for Democratic Alliance, but also for the name of its founder, Dominik Arndt, the new Minister President.
On the evening of his election victory, he makes a surprise visit to Berlin to face the journalists he has avoided until now. Even before he enters the Federal Press Conference building, TV journalist Theo Koll gets the first interview. The real Theo Koll, of course. This is also now flickering across the screen in the press conference room.
Fabian Hinrichs: smart and slick populist
And then he enters the room: Dominik Arndt alias Fabian Hinrichs – springy gait, smart suit, serene, charming smile. Instead of answering questions, however, he prefers to reel off his party programme: ‘We are social, we are democratic, we are alternative, we are liberal. We are also national, but that has nothing to do with right or left, but with the centre, with a passion for our country.’
The audience of this play with the telling title ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) sits where the press usually sits – between them are four actors playing journalists who, over the course of a year and a series of increasingly heated press conferences, ask uncomfortable questions. Because where the Democratic Alliance wants to spend money on digitisation, infrastructure and education, savings also have to be made. ‘Could it be that your austerity measures already extend to the enforcement of immigration law?’ asks a brash journalist.
Suddenly, there are cries of ‘coup by the federal government!’
The accusations are mounting. The Free State is delaying asylum procedures and refusing residence permits, leaving refugees without basic social security and literally out on the street. And it defends its actions with the supposed protection of its voters: ‘Anyone who wants to proclaim a theocracy in our Free State or carries out the most disgusting anti-Semitic actions will be punished with the full force of the law and also remi... ups, repatriated.’
This is the dig at the AfD and the remigration debate that Maximilian Steinbeis has inserted here. He is not only the author of the play, but also editor-in-chief of the online media outlet ‘Verfassungsblog’, where he long predicted the current quarrels in the Thuringian state parliament. In the play, he now acts out what happens when the executive branch does not recognise the judiciary. The DA party denies the federal government access to the files. Until the federal government wins its case before the Constitutional Court – but then has to enforce this right with the help of the federal police. Which does not make for good headlines. Suddenly, there is talk of coup attempts by the federal government.
Real issue: Markus Söder and the diesel ban
Anyone who considers this brazen disregard for the court by a minister-president to be excessive need only look to Bavaria, as the evening also points out. In 2012, Markus Söder simply ignored the diesel ban that the Free State had been ordered to implement.
The production by Nicola Hümpel and the group Nico and the Navigators emphasises a realistic scenario – including name tags and water bottles for the characters. Nevertheless, the evening also plays with political farce, with Fabian Hinrichs exaggerating and using irony – which works well for the two-hour play.
In the service of political education
A theatre evening that serves political education rather than art – which is no bad thing. The fact that its content is less thought-provoking than intended is simply because reality is even more frightening. For while the populist spectre has been banished with the help of the courts after a year (the party is in ruins, the prime minister has fled to Italy), reality has to prepare itself for a debacle lasting at least four years. In the Thuringian state parliament. But not only there.
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Federal Press Conference building in Berlin’s government district will become a stage for the musical theatre collective Nico and the Navigators. And they have a theatre star in tow: Fabian Hinrichs plays a tribune of the people who has long since found his far less amusing counterpart in reality.
27 September 2024. It's all crazy, says Mathis Feldhoff, head of the Federal Press Conference. I don't just think that tonight, replies playwright Maximilian Steinbeis after the premiere. That's what it sounds like when reality overtakes fiction, when theatre can no longer keep up. The senior member of a state parliament ignores rules of procedure and parliamentary rights, savours his Hindenburg moment on behalf of his right-wing extremist party leader, until the whole thing ends up before the state constitutional court.
Reality beats fiction
In another free state, the new state government denies refugees all rights and refuses to allow any investigation by federal authorities until Berlin takes the unprecedented step of imposing ‘federal coercion’ to restore constitutional order; the government spokesperson denies that there are scenes of civil war in the free state. Which of the two scenarios is reality, and which is merely the product of an imaginative author's mind? And how far is fiction from reality?
Not far at all, according to Maximilian Steinbeis. As a lawyer, journalist and founder of the ‘Verfassungsblog’ (Constitutional Blog), he has played out a ‘what if’ scenario in his ‘Thuringia Project’. He was not surprised by what the AfD staged in the Thuringian state parliament on 26 September. In an interview with Mathis Feldhoff, he made it clear that this was to be expected if one asked what would happen if a powerful party abandoned all parliamentary and legal norms. ‘This opens the door to a lot of abuse.’
Ongoing press conference
The play ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People), a further development of Steinbeis' five-year-old text “Ein Volkskanzler” (A People's Chancellor), is, despite the seriousness of the subject matter, also a farce. In Nicola Hümpel's production, the audience experiences over two hours of a continuous press conference with changing personnel – from the staunchly racist district administrator (‘Don't get me wrong, we have nothing against foreigners’) to the concerned NGO spokesperson. Fabian Hinrichs shines in the role of the free state's sole ruler Dominik Arndt, who has modelled the party abbreviation of his ‘Democratic Alliance’ on his own initials, with shark-like charm and an endless stream of words. As a skilled populist, the egomaniacal ‘DA’ leader oscillates between conventionality and blatant threats; his speciality is subtle aggression. He masterfully practises seizing power in the BPK (Berlin Press Conference) by ousting the press conference chief (Klara Pfeiffer) – for later.
While the journalists in the hall who ask questions and interject remain clichéd figures, Annedore Kleist is convincing as the government spokesperson who, when in doubt, retreats to platitudes and tries to conceal her own helplessness with a smug smile. Theo Koll makes a nice guest appearance as Theo Koll; interestingly, he exudes more seriousness in his own role than in his everyday life as a correspondent. It may be that under the pressure of recent state election results, even a long-serving ZDF anchorman is losing his sense of humour.
Terribly ridiculous
It is comforting, at least, that the rise of the dictator proves to be haltable, at least in this play: Dominik Arndt flees to ‘a land where lemons bloom’ and, in predictable megalomania, quotes not only Goethe but also Kant. The fact that his pathos resembles that of Björn Höcke is by no means purely coincidental. And when he crows Puccini's ‘Nessun dorma’ at the end – vincero, vincero-ho! – the hope remains that he is mistaken: this terribly ridiculous figure will not prevail.
Or will he? Who knows – after 26 September in Erfurt.
It’s an idea that sparks spontaneous excitement: shortly after the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg and, as luck would have it, right after the AfD scandal in the Erfurt state parliament, Fabian Hinrichs plays the founder of a populist party called ‘Democratic Alliance.’ […] And this scenario is not being played out on a traditional stage, but in the Federal Press Conference building, in the ‘heart of democracy’.
Fabian Hinrichs plays a populist politician in the Federal Press Conference building who deliberately seeks to sow discord: ‘A citizen of the people’.
It's an idea that sparks spontaneous anticipation: Shortly after the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg and, as luck would have it, directly after the AfD scandal in the Erfurt state parliament, Fabian Hinrichs plays the founder of a populist party called the ‘Democratic Alliance’, which has just won 44.2 per cent of the vote in the fictional ‘Free State’ and can be elected minister-president with an absolute majority.
And this scenario is not being played out on a traditional stage, but in the Federal Press Conference building, the ‘heart of democracy’ as its chairman Mathis Feldhoff calls the institution, which has been in existence for 75 years and where real politicians usually give account of their actions.
Can theatre be any closer to current events? Probably not, which raised expectations.
The play was written by Munich-based constitutional lawyer, journalist and author Maximilian Steinbeis, who has explored and explained right-wing populist strategies in his insightful books.
It is being staged by the independent theatre collective Nico and the Navigators, co-founded by Nicola Hümpel, who also directs. As dusk slowly envelops the Chancellery on the other side of the Spree, the drama of an irreconcilable rift between the federal and state governments unfolds in front of the famous blue wall in press conferences and video recordings.
This is because the Minister President, brilliantly portrayed by Hinrichs with a charisma that is at times imperious, at times awkward, refuses to enforce federal law in his Free State and grant residence permits to people entitled to asylum.
What happens in such an issue? The federal government can send a federal commissioner to investigate the situation on the ground. And if the state does not cooperate? Then the only instrument left to enforce law and order is the federal coercion described in Article 37 of the Basic Law. It has never been used. What might that look like? Everything is heading towards this question. This is interesting as a thought experiment and informative as a lesson in civics.
As a play, however, it falls short of its potential. The setting demands a level of authenticity that poses problems for the actors. Their overly accentuated, syntactically flawless speech seems strangely artificial in the arena of rhetoricians with no training in articulation, and the dramatic music is also disconcerting. It is reminiscent of Ferdinand von Schirach's didactic plays, which are loosely woven but similar in structure.
In its two hours, the ‘citizen of the people’ never gets boring. But it doesn't grab you either.
What a spectacle at the Federal Press Conference […] Despite its realism, the production by the group Nico and the Navigators also plays with political farce. A theatre evening that serves political education rather than art, where there is nothing to be said against it.
On the 75th anniversary of the Federal Press Conference, Fabian Hinrichs and Nico and the Navigators show what happens when a populist party comes to power and does whatever it wants. The reality in Germany, however, is even more frightening.
The first projections appear on the screen at the Federal Press Conference: the Left Party, BSW and Greens are out of the state parliament, the SPD is in single digits and the CDU is at just under 20 per cent. The clear winner in the Free State is the DA with a whopping 44 per cent. DA stands for Democratic Alliance, but also for the name of its founder, Dominik Arndt, the new Minister President.
On the evening of his election victory, he makes a surprise visit to Berlin to face the journalists he has avoided until now. Even before he enters the Federal Press Conference building, TV journalist Theo Koll gets the first interview. The real Theo Koll, of course. This too is now flickering across the screen in the press conference room.
Fabian Hinrichs: smart and slick populist
And then he enters the room: Dominik Arndt, alias Fabian Hinrichs – springy gait, smart suit, serene, charming smile. Instead of answering questions, however, he prefers to reel off his party programme: ‘We are social, we are democratic, we are alternative, we are liberal. We are also national, but that has nothing to do with right or left, but with the centre, with a passion for our country.’
The audience of this play with the telling title ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) sits where the press usually sits – between them are four actors playing the role of journalists who, over the course of a year and a series of increasingly heated press conferences, ask uncomfortable questions. Because where the Democratic Alliance wants to spend money on digitisation, infrastructure and education, savings also have to be made. ‘Could it be that your austerity measures already extend to the enforcement of immigration law?’ asks a brash journalist.
Suddenly, there are cries of ‘coup by the federal government!’
The accusations are mounting. The Free State is delaying asylum procedures and refusing residence permits, leaving refugees without basic social security and literally out on the street. And it defends its actions with the supposed protection of its voters: ‘Anyone who wants to proclaim a theocracy in our Free State or carries out the most disgusting anti-Semitic actions will be punished with the full force of the law and also remi... er, repatriated.’
This is the dig at the AfD and the remigration debate that Maximilian Steinbeis has inserted here. He is not only the author of the play, but also editor-in-chief of the online medium ‘Verfassungsblog’, where he long foresaw the current quarrels in the Thuringian state parliament.
In the play, he now acts out what happens when the executive branch does not recognise the judiciary. The DA party denies the federal government access to the files. Until the federal government wins its case before the Constitutional Court – but then has to enforce this right with the help of the federal police. Which does not make for good headlines. Suddenly, there is talk of coup attempts by the federal government.
Real issue: Markus Söder and the diesel ban
Anyone who considers this brazen disregard for the court by a minister-president to be excessive need only look to Bavaria, as the evening also points out. In 2012, Markus Söder simply ignored the diesel ban that the Free State had been ordered to implement.
The production by Nicola Hümpel and the group Nico and the Navigators emphasises a realistic scenario – including name tags and water bottles for the characters. Nevertheless, the evening also plays with political farce, with Fabian Hinrichs exaggerating and using irony – which definitely works well for the two-hour play.
In the service of political enlightenment
A theatre evening that serves political education rather than art – which is no bad thing. The fact that its content is less thought-provoking than intended is simply because reality is even more frightening. For while the populist spectre has been banished with the help of the courts after just one year (the party is in ruins, the minister-president has fled to Italy), reality has to prepare itself for a debacle lasting at least four years. In the Thuringian state parliament. But not only there.
Fabian Hinrichs plays a populist politician in Nico and the Navigators’ production Ein Volksbürger (A Citizen of the People).
The Berlin musical theatre ensemble Nico and the Navigators is breaking new ground in two areas: their production Ein Volksbürger (A Citizen of the People) is a spoken theatre piece, and its world premiere will take place in the Haus der Pressekonferenz, where, since the inauguration of the new building on 8 May 2000, only political journalism has been presented, never a theatrical format.
Director Nicola Hümpel doesn't have to think long about why the ensemble is now devoting itself to decidedly political theatre: ‘Because the times demand it.’ Ultimately, this is not completely new territory: in the more than 25 years of their existence, Nico and the Navigators have always dealt with current socio-political issues in an extremely intelligent and aesthetically outstanding manner. The ensemble has been friends with author and lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis, who has been running the ‘Verfassungsblog’ since 2009, for quite some time. ‘He has known our work for a long time and approached us with some extremely relevant material,’ recalls the director.
Steinbeis published the essay ‘Ein Volkskanzler’ (A People's Chancellor) in 2019 and this year the book ‘Die verwundbare Demokratie. Strategien gegen die populistische Übernahme’ (The Vulnerable Democracy: Strategies Against Populist Takeover). Both writings highlight the danger that populist forces can undermine democratic institutions and manifest authoritarian structures. ‘This year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law and have to ask ourselves how it can be modified to prevent hostility towards democracy from gaining ground,’ says Hümpel. ’Max didn't approach us because he had a musical theatre project in mind, but because he believed we were capable of creating the right characters and bringing them to life on stage. I see this as a project with a lot of responsibility and needed time to think it through. How can the supposedly dry field of constitutional law be translated into a theatrical format that makes the issues clear to the audience without simplifying them?’
The election forecasts for the federal states of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony accelerated the project – its relevance is evident given the expected success of populist parties. For this reason, the House of the Press Conference immediately gave the green light. Fabian Hinrichs felt the same way. This is the first time Nico and the Navigators have worked with the actor and director. ‘Shortly after we approached him, he was hooked on the project,’ recalls Hümpel. ‘Fabian studied law, so he not only brought an interest in the subject matter, but also the necessary expertise. He immediately understood the legal implications.’
In keeping with the location, the play consists of several press conferences set after an election. The prime minister, played by Fabian Hinrichs, has been elected by a convincing majority, even though he has proclaimed anti-constitutional slogans. It quickly becomes clear that these are not just election slogans, but that he wants to undermine asylum law and environmental policies. This leads to intervention by the federal government. Article 37 of the Basic Law stipulates that so-called federal coercion comes into effect if a state refuses to fulfil its federal obligations. This has not happened in the history of the Federal Republic, but given the populist parties' pithy slogans – combined with the election forecasts – it cannot be ruled out in the future. The question remains: what would be the consequences of such a scenario? It is conceivable that the populists would become supposed martyrs, which could give them another boost in popularity.
What currently looks like a not entirely unlikely future scenario has already happened in a similar form in history, as Hümpel points out: ‘Think of the Prussian coup in 1932.’ At that time, the NSDAP and KPD won a majority in the state elections. ‘The then Prime Minister Otto Braun, who was still in office, was dismissed along with his ministry and replaced by Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen as Reich Commissioner. He believed he could control Hitler if he joined forces with him. A fatal mistake.’
The play, which will be performed on three evenings, warns against another act of naivety. The title suggests the populism that populists like to pretend to have: ‘I am one of you.’ Billionaire Trump does this excellently, bizarrely railing against the elite he actually represents. In Germany, the situation is not much different. Brecht was probably right in his distrust of the term ‘people.’ Heiner Müller took this idea even further. It quickly leads to the dictum: ‘Thou shalt have no peoples beside me.’
The combination of Fabian Hinrichs and Nico and the Navigators sounds more than promising for this material. Due to limited seating capacity at the press conference venue, tickets should be reserved as soon as possible. However, the stage performance will also be broadcast live in theatres throughout Germany. In Berlin, the Babylon cinema on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz will take over this role on Saturday. Afterwards, author Maximilian Steinbeis and the stage team will answer questions from the audience. The television channel Arte will edit the play and broadcast it after the premiere, providing further background information.
Shortly before Christmas, Nico and the Navigators will return with another world premiere. At the Radialsystem, they will continue the theme with ‘The Whole Truth About Lies.’ The musical theatre piece deals with fake news and artificial intelligence.
And indeed, the evening is a successful example of educational theatre at its best. Not only because Fabian Hinrichs almost perfectly impersonates a prime minister who skilfully conceals his destructive intentions behind a civil façade. (Imagine a male Alice Weidel.) […] The play was performed at the Federal Press Conference Centre; it was the first time that an artistic project had been given access to these premises.
What could happen if a right-wing extremist party came to power? The play ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) at the Federal Press Conference Centre plays out this scenario.
In theory, any discernible educational intent in theatre is frowned upon. Nevertheless, one function of theatre seems to be trending, namely that of enlightenment. This became particularly clear in the sensationally successful stage adaptation of the Correctiv investigation. Just one week after its publication, the whole thing was staged as a dramatic reading at the Berliner Ensemble. The event, billed as ‘theatre meets journalism’, was streamed live, attracted more than 100,000 viewers to their digital devices and was met with thunderous applause.
A similar major media event was the staging of ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) by the independent group Nico and the Navigators. One day after the AfD's senior member in the Thuringian state parliament had suspended democratic principles, Fabian Hinrichs played a populist prime minister who comes to power in an unnamed ‘free state’ through his Democratic Alliance, which was elected with an absolute majority. The play was performed at the Federal Press Conference Centre; it was the first time that an artistic project had been given access to these premises.
A citizen of the people attempts to act out a scenario with maximum authenticity, dealing with the question of what could happen if a party that despises the rule of law comes to power. What means of defence does the constitution actually have to protect the democratic state in such an issue? This project was also streamed live on several channels, including Arte, probably because it was rightly assumed that it would be of interest to as many people in the country as possible.
And indeed, the evening is a successful example of educational theatre in the best sense of the word. Not only because Fabian Hinrichs almost perfectly copies a minister-president who skilfully conceals his desire for destruction behind a civil façade. (Imagine a male Alice Weidel.) Nor because the evening sometimes tries to portray the world of politics and journalism in a rather clichéd way. And certainly not because the creators obviously wanted to make the subject matter ‘light’ and felt that such a threatening scenario had to be treated with humour. Instead, I learned a lot about the constitution from the press conferences in which the German government's options for action were played out.
I don't know about you, but I don't often leaf through our constitution. So I learned in this play that constitutional lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis wrote that there is a codified ‘loyalty to the state’ that obliges the federal states to comply with and implement the constitutional laws of the federal government. I also heard for the first time about ‘federal coercion’, which has never been implemented in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany and which comes into effect in extreme cases when a federal state deliberately acts unconstitutionally. Then, as in this case, the federal police march into the respective free state and prevent the seizure of power by the offices and authorities.
A citizen of the people thus sent a reassuring message: don't worry, there are ways and means that the constitutional state has to protect itself. However, in order to prepare for what is to come, it would be wise to come up with a more realistic educational scenario next time. As we know for certain, the AfD has very different plans than the Democratic Alliance, which forgets to process residence applications. So how about a realistic horror theatre production that gives us all instructions on how to proceed in the near future?
It’s all just theatre, right? Lots of applause at the end for Hinrichs and the whole crew. But it’s not really a mood for celebrating.
Federal Press Conference as a stage
The independent theatre company Nico and the Navigators, originally founded in Dessau, has put on a play together with Berlin actor Fabian Hinrichs.
This building on Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, where the Federal Press Conference is based, has never seen anything like it: a play in the hall familiar from television images, where representatives of the government and opposition, parties and associations normally answer questions from the media.
Close to reality
The production currently being shown is called ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People), with the subtitle ‘political farce’ – so that there can be no misunderstanding. Especially since the distance between reality and fiction is not that great. The play is about a special kind of ‘what if’: What if a populist were to win an absolute majority in a federal state (called ‘the Free State’) and break away from the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany?
The premiere of ‘Ein Volksbürger’ took place one day after the scandal at the constituent meeting of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, where the CDU faction called on the state constitutional court in a dispute with the AfD over procedural issues. This gave the play additional explosiveness.
The independent theatre company Nico and the Navigators, originally founded in Dessau, produced the play written by Maximilian Steinbeis together with Berlin actor Fabian Hinrichs. Director Nicola Hümpel, lead actor Fabian Hinrichs and dramaturge Andreas Hillger collaborated on the script. Steinbeis is a lawyer, journalist and author who runs the Forum Verfassungsblog. The Federal Press Conference has now provided the stage for a fictional political escalation – featuring, among others, the ‘real’ journalist Theo Koll as a guest, playing himself.
Power-hungry populist
The production thrives on the magic of Fabian Hinrichs, who celebrated triumphs with the late René Pollesch at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Hinrichs plays the charming populist who wants power and sweet-talks everyone with gibberish. It's all just theatre, right? Lots of applause at the end for Hinrichs and the whole crew. But it's not really a mood for celebrating.
Hinrichs skilfully switches between the roles of likeable charlatan and ruthless manipulator. And that makes the ‘what if’ scenario even more disturbing.
Nico and the Navigators perform ‘Ein Volksbürger’ at the Federal Press Conference Building
The huge panoramic window in the Federal Press Conference Building offers a direct view of the government district: the Federal Chancellery, the Paul Löbe House, the German Bundestag, all within a stone's throw. Memorable press conferences have taken place here, such as the one in 2015 when Angela Merkel uttered her famous phrase, ‘We can do it!’ A little thought experiment: What would it be like if, after a landslide victory in a state election, a populist minister-president took his place on this very podium and delivered a confident speech?
This scenario was developed by Nicola Hümpel and her theatre collective Nico and the Navigators together with Maximilian Steinbeis, author and founder of the Verfassungsblog. In the role of the slick political up-and-comer: the magnificent Fabian Hinrichs, known from Volksbühne productions and as a detective in the TV series Tatort. In the style of a live mockumentary, the play begins on election night. The results from the fictional Free State flicker across a monitor: dismal ratings for the bourgeois parties, while a solid bar builds up for the ‘Democratic Alliance’. An absolute majority right off the bat! Party leader Dominik Arndt – who embodies the ‘DA’ down to his initials – rushes straight to the federal capital to face the press.
With the demeanour of a triumphant victor, Arndt, alias Hinrichs, storms into the hall. But he is not interested in dialogue. He much prefers to rant about poor mobile phone reception and emphasise: ‘We are many things, we are democratic, we are alternative, social, liberal and, yes, we are national, but that has nothing to do with right or left, with top or bottom, but with the centre, with a passion for our country.’ Hinrichs skilfully switches between the poles of likeable charlatan and hard-nosed manipulator. And that makes the ‘what if’ scenario even more disturbing. When contempt for democracy does not come in the guise of a clearly extremist party, but emanates from reactionary actors who present themselves as vaguely modern, down-to-earth do-gooders.
The play spans a year of various press conferences. And from press conference to press conference, it becomes clearer where the journey is headed. In an unnamed ‘free state,’ irregularities in immigration law arise after only a few weeks: government offices stop processing files, and those seeking protection end up homeless. Three actors and an actress, seated among the audience, probe further with journalistic questions. The communication gap is breathtaking: the populist Arndt talks a lot, but basically deflects all questions.
A district administrator complains about the impositions of the local refugee home, and an NGO representative presents his pile of research on unprocessed asylum cases. A changing cast of characters make their appearance until it becomes clear that the federal government is dealing with something that is actually a constitutional anomaly: ‘executive disobedience’, i.e. when the executive branch disregards the judiciary and federal law is deliberately not implemented at the state level. For anyone who thinks that a minister-president disregarding high court rulings is pure fantasy, the play provides a real-life example: Markus Söder and the diesel ban. He simply ignored federal regulations from 2012 in the interests of Bavaria, the ‘car state’.
And how does the thought experiment ‘Ein Volksbürger’ end on the theatre stage? With a spectacular showdown called Article 37 of the Basic Law. Never before used in the history of the Federal Republic, the so-called ‘federal coercion’ allows drastic measures to be taken against a federal state that refuses to fulfil its federal obligations. In the case of the ‘DA’, this means that the federal police put an end to the takeover and the minister-president flees abroad. From a ‘friendly country where the lemon trees bloom’, he immediately sends a video message, naturally with the slogan ‘Something has begun that cannot be stopped’.
In an interview after the premiere, lawyer and Verfassungsblog author Maximilian Steinbeis described the political events so vividly depicted in this theatrical experiment as uncharted territory. He is also the author of the 2019 essay ‘Ein Volkskanzler’ (A People's Chancellor), which explores how authoritarian forces could undermine the constitution within a single legislative period without openly violating it or changing a single letter. The Verfassungsblog team is currently working on the ‘Thuringia Project,’ a research project that aims to examine the resilience of democracy and the rule of law in Germany in precisely these areas.
The Thuringian AfD recently provided another prime example from the playbook of parliamentary obstruction. On 26 September, the AfD's senior member, Jürgen Treutler, blocked a vote on changing the rules of procedure for hours. Only an urgent decision by the Thuringian Constitutional Court allowed the constituent session of the state parliament to continue. The play ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People) was over after two hours. We will see how things continue on the real political stage. In Erfurt and elsewhere.
A production by Nico and the Navigators, funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Capital Cultural Fund. In cooperation with the Bundespressekonferenz e.V., the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Produced by EuroArts on behalf of ZDF, the production will be shown online on ARTE. With the support of Radialsystem.
With a live broadcast to Babylon Berlin, the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe / Kinemathek.
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