The Waldbühne. A normal venue with a peculiar history.

The Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne (Dietrich Eckart Stage) was an initiative of Joseph Goebbels. As a Minister of Propaganda in Hitler’s Germany, he thought that a amphitheatre with a capacity of 100.000 visitors would make be a useful tool as an applauding machine. It was named after the Nazi poet, propagandist and orator Dietrich Eckart (1868-1923). Eckart had once a modest success as moderator of the Romantic Peer Gynt theater play in 1912. Although Eckart never seriously broke through as a poet and critic, he was a well-known figure within Bavarian nazi circles directly after World War I. Being the first one who grasped Hitler’s talent for giving speeches, Dietrich Eckart can be seen as someone who gave Hitler a career-boost. Initially, Hitler was thankful for this success, after which a certain level of friendship developed. Nevertheless, Hitler’s well noted biographer Ian Kershaw can tell us that they were already drifted apart when Eckart died in December 1923. By that time, Hitler was already the main orator and agitator of the nazi’s and simply did not need another competitor.

In an urban context, the Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne was part of Welthauptstadt Germania. This was a megalomanic architectural plan to reshape Berlin for a Nazi utopia. Two axes (from North till South and from West till East) would host the biggest buildings in the world. The Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne is related to the Olympic Stadium is proven by the fact that they are both architected by Nazi Party’s member Werner March, who happened to be one of Hitler’s favorite architects. The amphitheatre was situated next to the Olympic Stadium and build in the same period. In its design, Werner March chose to use the 30 meter deep ravine of the Murellenschlucht. This created a grandstand which became steeper the further away from the stage. It created optimal acoustics for its 25.000 visitors. It is said, the Bühne is mostly inspired by the Greek theatre of Epidaurus, build around 330BCE. Four ‘Greek’ statues by Adolf Wemper were placed at the amphitheatres entrance. Two nude male figures, one with a spear and another with a sword, symbolise the Nazi state. Two female figures, with a laurel wreath and one with a lyre, symbolise the athletics and arts which performed in the amphitheatre. The Greece inspiration went beyond the heritage of the Olympics. Nazi’s felt attracted by the Ancient Greeks for several reasons. In their wack interpretation of history, the ancient Greece had a pure reputation in contrast to the decadent Romans. During the Nazi Era, the ravine of the Murellenschlucht was not only the stage for the Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne and some Olympic athletic games. A whole extra update could be written about the history of the Erschießungsplatz V (Shooting place #5). For this, we have to start in the middle of 1944, when it seemed obvious for most of the German soldiers that their war was lost. Fighting was not a matter for ‘the Fatherland’ anymore, but for the sake of your fellow soldiers, or even your own surviving. Deserting was, for many German soldiers, a consideration between the risk of being a casualty in the War or of their own Nazi regime. Unfortunately for them, Hitler gave command to fight ’till the last man’. Thirty thousand deserters were caught and about twenty thousand were executed. Between August 1944 and April 1945, an unknown number (estimation: ±230) of deserting soldiers were executed at the Erschießungsplatz V. In memoriam to the hundreds of executed soldiers here, it is worth raising questions. How did they get the information which made them desert from the army? How much did the German people know about the state of the war? Did they believe Hitler’s propaganda, telling them that the coalition between the USA and the Soviet-Union would fall apart? One thing is for sure. Although he must have realised that the war was useless, Hitler was indifferent about the lifes of his young German soldiers. “A soldier can die, a deserter has to die!” is an infamous quotation of the Nazi leader. After the War, the Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne was renamed as Waldbühne (Forest Stage) in an attempt to lose the Nazi heritage. The Waldbühne became a stage with multiple functions. One of the most important moments has been the farewell of the legendary boxer Max Schmeling on October 31st 1948. Another impressive farewell for which the Waldbühne provided a stage was the grief ceremony after the death of Kurt Schumacher. At the age of 19, he lost his left arm in December 1914 when he served as a soldier in WWI. After the War he became an active social democrat in Berlin. Schumacher ended up high on the Nazi’s list for political opponents and he was rounded up in June 1933. For the next twelve years, Schumacher was beaten and held into various concentration camps. He ended up in Dachau, (in)famous for holding opponents of the regime. Before he was restored of his hardships, Kurt Schumacher died in 1952. Four days later, 20.000 people gathered at the Waldbühne. The Waldbühne wasn’t only a venue for farewells. Also the annual Berlinale (Berlin’s film festival) had a location to show films here in the open air. Since the early 1960s, when all war damage was finally restored, also pop-stars were welcomed. The Rolling Stones noticed this in 1965. In the evening from 15 till 16 September that year, the young crowd stormed the stage. The Rolling Stones fled after playing only 20 minutes, after which a part of the crowd wrecked the venue and provocated the police. The police tried to control the youngsters with water, causing a damage of 400.000Mark. It took about 15 years before gigs were organised here again. In June 1980, Bob Marley gave a concert for 18.000 fans. In 1982, a tent was build over the original stage. Ever since, the Waldbühne is a stage as there are many others. Bruce Springsteen played at the venue in 1988. In the summer months, it is no surprise that the S-Bahn trains towards it are crowded with visitors of the many concerts!