Ein deutsches Leben - schedule, program & buy tickets

German version by Sabine Pribil

But then again, we didn’t really want to know.

After decades of silence, Brunhilde Pomsel, at the age of 103, spoke at length for the first time about her time as a stenographer and secretary to Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Although Pomsel worked for one of history’s greatest criminals and for the Nazi leadership, she always described herself merely as a “minor figure” and completely “apolitical.” Even in the final days of the war, she remained in the already devastated city and sewed the flag marking Berlin’s official surrender in the bunker. She was subsequently taken prisoner by the Soviets. Until the very end, she insisted that she had not learned of the Holocaust until after the end of the Nazi regime.

The English playwright Christopher Hampton has written a compelling play based on the original conversations Brunhilde Pomsel had with Christian Krönes, Olaf S. Müller, Roland Schrotthofer, and Florian Weigensamer for the film of the same name, *Ein deutsches Leben* (A German Life). Pomsel’s life story raises the question of each individual’s personal responsibility for the political events of the time.

The world premiere took place in London in 2019, starring Maggie Smith. In Vienna, Lore Stefanek will appear as Goebbels’ secretary in a production directed by the multi-award-winning Andrea Breth.

Subject to change.