Rapallo

 Following the after-party at the Winterer Foyer of the Municipal Theater last Saturday night, Red Baron was there again only twelve hours later. He attended a stage presentation of "The Historic Hour: 100 Years of the Rapallo Treaty. "

On April 16, 1922, Germany and Soviet Russia negotiated a treaty in Rapallo to reorganize their relations. Both countries were deeply affected by the First World War and emerged as losers and pariah states. They were internationally isolated, and their existence was threatened by excessive reparations and compensation demands.

The negotiators are the Freiburger Joseph Wirth, a member of the Catholic Zentrum Party and Chancellor of the Reich, and Georgij Chicherin, Soviet Russian People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, a former noble and polyglot.

Russian vodka and Black Forest kirsch peacefully united

Heinz Siebold, the play's author and director, wrote the scenes based on authentic documents, i.e., personal conversations between Wirth and Chicherin in Rapallo and a telephone conversation between Wirth and Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau. Siebold recreated a political context that is unexpectedly topical with the war in Ukraine.

A somewhat frosty climate in the beginning, but alcohol helps

To this day, "Rapallo" remains synonymous with the unique features of German-Russian relations. On the one hand, it presented an opportunity for a policy of understanding; on the other hand, the two nations walked a Sonderweg- a distinct path. The present wavering attitude of German policy towards Russia is a relic of a bygone era.

Now the two gentlemen drink coffee.

In an interview with the Badische Zeitung, Heinz Siebold said, "The fact that 100 years after this treaty, there is this war is just horrible. At the time, the Treaty of Rapallo was an attempt by two outsider countries to come closer and cooperate economically. After World War I, Germany was on the brink due to the Treaty of Versailles, and Bolshevik Russia posed a threat to the Western powers. The Treaty of Rapallo was a bold step toward closer relations, even if the Russians were never entirely comfortable partners. My scenic portrayal shows how the negotiations came about, how they proceeded."

Wirth's decisive telephone call to Walter Rathenau

The events occurred 100 years ago, so Siebold continued modestly, "I don't want to spread a message, but illustrate the historical situation. For me, part of political education is to continually emphasize the value of democracy and understanding, because neither is something that falls from the sky. It is fatal that people can't learn permanently from history. But that doesn't change the fact that we must constantly struggle anew for understanding. This is true even if agreements only last for a while. Therefore, the Treaty of Rapallo is more topical than ever, even if German-Russian relations have now reached an all-time low. But that will not be the end of the story. We must not let the bridge to Russian culture and history be torn down."

Thank you, Heinz.

More thanks from right to left: Peter Haug-Lamersdorf (Wirth),
Burkhard Wein (Chicherin), Stephanie Heine (Songs of the 1920ies),
Andreas Binder (piano) and Anita Morasch (Russian folk songs)

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