Culture 1 of 2
From the summer months of 1945, public life offering cultural programs and entertainment started to blossom again, with the gradual permission of the military government. The movie theaters open up first in July and showed mainly American feature films and documentaries, such as the 1941 comedy “Appointment for Love” advertised on the column. Private clubs like the castle park casino, demolished in 1975, promoted music and dancing on huge posters. Nearby, the political parties permitted from September wooed voters for the first municipal elections scheduled for May 1946. The Heidelberg communists recalled their warnings about the Nazis at the end of the Weimar Republic. At the same time, in view of the forced union of the German communist and socialist parties (KPD and SPD) in the Soviet-occupied zone, they propagated the “unity” of the “working class” in Heidelberg too – but without success.
Full rows of spectators attest to the great interest shown by the Heidelberg population in distraction from the hardships of everyday life. The serenade concerts of the Heidelberg Orchestra in the castle courtyard were a breath of normality as long as you could afford the entrance price. In order to do justice to the criticism from the suffering population and the wish of the workers to participate in cultural life, the city administration decided in August 1945 to make a certain number of reduced tickets available to workers via the trade unions. What is more, on Sunday mornings there were – well attended – concerts at reduced rates. In view of the food and housing shortage, and empty coffers, organizing cultural events was difficult in spite of the great public interest. The city administration wanted to keep running the theater and orchestra but deemed deep cuts in staff and finance to be necessary. The US occupiers pressed for regular theater and orchestra programs to be resumed soon. The city orchestra was already playing at concerts run by the American Red Cross in June 1945. At the beginning of August 1945 Gustav Hartung obtained a license to direct the theater, and he made it available to the cooperatively organized Heidelberg chamber theater. The first rehearsals took place in the Bandhaus Hall (now King’s Hall) of the castle, as did the premiere on 11 September 1945, since the theater and city hall were still occupied by the US military.
Anfang August 1945 erhielt Gustav Hartung die Lizenz zur Leitung des Theaters, der diese den genossenschaftlich organisierten Heidelberger Kammerspielen zur Verfügung stellte. Die ersten Proben fanden, ebenso wie die Premiere am 11. September 1945, im Bandhaussaal (Königssaal) des Schlosses statt, da Theater und Stadthalle weiterhin vom US-Militär beschlagnahmt blieben.
