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 are shaken by the First World War and are losers. They are internationally isolated, and their existence is threatened by excessive reparations and compensation demands.

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

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" stands for the unique features of German-Russian relations. On the one hand, it is an opportunity for a policy of understanding; on the other hand, the two nations walked a Sonderweg (particular path). The present wavering attitude of German policy towards Russia is a relic of long-gone times.

Now the two gentlemen drink coffee.

In an interview with the Badische Zeitung, Heinz Siebold clearly 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 because of the Treaty of Versailles, and Bolshevik Russia was a threat to the Western powers. The Treaty of Rapallo was a bold step to get closer, even if the Russians were never comfortable partners. My scenic portrayal shows how the negotiations came about, how they proceeded."

Wirth's decisive telephone call to Walter Rathenau

The events took place 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 keep pointing out the value of democracy and understanding because neither falls from the sky. It is fatal that it does not seem possible for people to 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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