
A judgment from the past week that has received little attention casts a gloomy light on the capital’s cultural policy. Klaus Dörr, the former director of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, has won the trial against the “taz” in a Berlin court. In an article that was as long as it was one-page, the newspaper accused the theater man of “upskirting”, among other things – a criminal offence.
The fact that he photographed women “under their skirts” was fictitious. But the publication in the “taz” – which is now being appealed – led to Klaus Dörr’s forced resignation within a few days in March 2021.
The career of the 61-year-old, who took over the interim director’s ascension command at the Volksbühne in 2018, was over for the time being. The presumption of innocence is a high legal interest. It didn’t apply to him. He is said to have “stared” at women and addressed them inappropriately. There is no evidence. It looks like character assassination.
It is now known that the attacks on Dörr were a revenge action by the “Dust to Glitzer” collective. The activists occupied the Volksbühne for a week in 2017. Dörr refused to work with them. After that, their goal was his fall.
For Berlin’s Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer – he is a lawyer – these thin suspicions were enough to remove Dörr from the theater. A cheap show: Dörr only had one contract until the summer break and the takeover of René Pollesch. Dörr is a theater worker and is not considered a celebrity. Lederer was able to present himself with courage as a consistent politician who immediately takes action in MeToo affairs. He dropped Klaus Dörr and served his clientele. And did those really hard hit by MeToo a disservice, as it now shows.
The topic of abuse of power and power structures in the theater in general has only been discussed in public for a few years. And it continued in spring 2021 in Berlin. The culture senator, already with a view to the elections to the House of Representatives in September last year, had to leave the stages of the fire.
As soon as Dörr was gone, allegations against Shermin Langhoff, the director of the Maxim Gorki Theater, became public knowledge in April 2021. Complaints from the company concerned bullying, assault and a “toxic working atmosphere” – particularly explosive in a theater that is politically left-wing and emphasizes diversity and anti-racist commitment. A model house, managed by Langhoff since 2013. The problems are said to have been solved internally, with mediation and coaching, and a court settlement was also reached.
Langhoff was protected by multiple awards and successes. And there are only a few directors at the theater in Berlin. The culture administration applied different standards than those of Klaus Dörr and the Volksbühne. And so this is also a Causa Lederer. He did not protect the theater manager, whom he himself appointed, as employer.
How anxious the culture senator is was shown in spring 2019 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, when general music director Daniel Barenboim was confronted with unpleasant things, apparently not worthy of a world-famous maestro. Here, too, it was about harassment and bullying, authoritarian management styles and a climate of fear. Barenboim apologized that he had not hurt anyone on purpose, but also spoke of a campaign against him. After all, his contract extension was at stake. There were talks and measures at the State Opera with the aim of creating better conditions and eliminating problems. Above all, Barenboim was given an extension until 2027. That’s how long GMD, who was born in 1942, wants to stay on Unter den Linden. As long as his health allows it, as he says himself.
Lederer certainly did not want to go down in history as the culture senator who dumped Daniel Barenboim. That’s what it would have looked like. The allegations here were not sufficient to seriously confront a world star. Artistic considerations to rejuvenate the leadership of the Staatskapelle receded into the background. Director Matthias Schulz has not extended. The 45-year-old will switch to the Zurich Opera House.
At the start of the season, the Staatsoper is now bringing a completely new “Ring des Nibelungen”, four premieres in one week, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Daniel Barenboim is the musical director, a huge task.
And what follows from all the heatedly negotiated incidents and scandals? After the most recent court ruling, the Causa Dörr may vanish into thin air, but something always gets stuck. Accusation is more exciting than rehabilitation. Whether it will be granted to Dörr is questionable in the prevailing climate.
The damage is done – also at the Volksbühne, where Lederer showed all the patience in the world to persuade his preferred candidate Pollesch to take over the directorship. Klaus Dörr had a hard time, even without the insidious attacks. The productions he put out weren’t always outstanding. But he had decent audience numbers and solid housekeeping. Others could now learn from it.