Theatre
17.9.-20.9.2026
Jahrhunderthalle Bochum

In the vertigo between history and the present

In the fall of 1946, the young Swedish author Stig Dagerman travels through devastated Germany. In his literary travelogue German Autumn, he probes Berlin, Hamburg, and the Ruhr region – places marked by hunger, ruins, and exhaustion. Dagerman describes a country teetering between ending and beginning and asks an uncomfortable question: Is this country ready for freedom? Exactly 80 years later, a human lifetime, the celebrated director Christopher Rüping takes up this question. The winner of the 2025 Theatre-Award-Berlin, together with the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater Berlin, turns his ear to German history: 1946, 1977, and other autumns – times of transition, uncertainty, responsibility. When memory vanishes and history becomes a search, the question arises again: How much freedom do we carry within us? Who are we when all certainties fall away?

Co-produced by Ruhrtriennale and Deutsches Theater Berlin.

„Fear is the deepest state of this country.“
Stig Dagerman

Cast

  • Direction
    • Christopher Rüping
  • Set Design
    • Jonathan Mertz
  • Costumes
    • Lene Schwind
  • Music
    • Christoph Hart
  • Video Design
    • Emma Lou Herrmann
  • Lighting Design
    • Robert Grauel
  • Dramaturgy
    • Bernd Isele

Supporters Ruhrtriennale

Funded by Kunststiftung NRW

Visit

  • Run time
  • Language
  • Age guidance
  • Content notes
  • Introduction
  • Directions

    Jahrhunderthalle Bochum
    An der Jahrhunderthalle 1
    44793 Bochum

  • Public transport and Kombi-Ticket
  • Directions
  • Travelling by bike
  • Dates and Tickets
    September
    Thu 17.9.2026
    8 pm Theatre Jahrhunderthalle Bochum
    First performance

    Deutscher Herbst

    Christopher Rüping, Deutsches Theater Berlin
    Fri 18.9.2026
    8 pm Theatre Jahrhunderthalle Bochum

    Deutscher Herbst

    Christopher Rüping, Deutsches Theater Berlin
    Sat 19.9.2026
    8 pm Theatre Jahrhunderthalle Bochum

    Deutscher Herbst

    Christopher Rüping, Deutsches Theater Berlin
    Sun 20.9.2026
    8 pm Theatre Jahrhunderthalle Bochum

    Deutscher Herbst

    Christopher Rüping, Deutsches Theater Berlin