Helene Weigel | Jewish Women's Archive (original) (raw)
Deutsche Fotothek of the Saxon State Library / State and University Library Dresden
In Brief
Helene Weigel was a respected matriarch of nineteenth-entury theater, known for her maternal roles in Bertolt Brecht plays and as the director of the Berliner Ensemble theater in East Germany. Born in Vienna in 1900, Weigel moved to Berlin to perform in 1922, where she met and married Brecht. Together they had two children, and Weigel made a conscious effort to distance herself from her Jewish heritage. In 1933, they fled Germany and traveled to European countries and America, before settling in East Germany. Weigel’s distinctive acting style consisted of a subtle combination of realistic and stylized dialogue. Brecht and Weigel were communists. Weigel was also known for her philanthropy, giving generously to many charities throughout her life--although this activity went against official socialist doctrine, which claimed that such aid was unnecessary in the classless, “egalitarian” society.
Bibliography
“Backstage with the Berliner Ensemble.” New Theater Magazine 6.3 (1966): 15–23.
A conversation with Helene Weigel and others in the Berliner Ensemble, in which Weigel declares that she does not give interviews: “Interviews are for stars—I am not a star and so I never give interviews. If any questions on our work are to be answered, they must be answered by the Ensemble as a whole—this is because the whole company discuss a production and contribute to it” (15).
Chausseestrasse 125. Die Wohnungen von Bertolt Brecht und Helene Weigel in Berlin Mitte. Berlin: Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste, 2000.
Documents Weigel and Brecht’s living and working quarters on Chaussee Street through pictures and texts by friends and acquaintances. Photographs by Sibylle Bergemann.
Hecht, Werner. Helene Weigel. Eine große Frau des 20. Jahrhunderts. Frankfurt am Main: 2000.
Hecht is a renowned scholar of Brecht and Weigel. This book includes a chronicle of Weigel’s career and many photographs of Weigel in her various personal and professional roles.
Kebir, Sabine. Abstieg in den Ruhm. Helene Weigel. Eine Biographie. Berlin: 2000.
A comprehensive biography of Helene Weigel in narrative form.
Pintzka, Wolfgang, ed. Helene Weigel, Actress. A Book of Photographs. Trans. John Berger and Anna Bostock. Berlin: 1959.
Includes texts dedicated to Helene Weigel by Bertolt Brecht, and photographs by Gerda Goedhart.
Stern, Carola. Männer lieben anders. Helene Weigel und Bertolt Brecht. Berlin: Rowohlt, 2000.
Details the at times tumultuous personal and working relationship between Weigel and Brecht. Also includes a four-page chronology of Weigel’s life.
Wilke, Judith, ed. Helene Weigel 100. The Brecht Yearbook 25. Madison, WI: 2000. 75–94.
A special edition of the Brecht Yearbook commemorating the hundredth anniversary of Helene Weigel’s birthday, with valuable contributions from various scholars covering different aspects of Weigel’s life and work.