Brecht and Brechts Hus
Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel in the house on Skovsbostrand
Brechts Hus is a thatched half-timbered house from the beginning of the 19th century, which in the years 1933-39 was home to the exiled, world-famous German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht, his wife the actress Helene Weigel and their 2 children.
This stay in Svendborg was a very productive period for Brecht. He wrote numerous central works in the house: Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, Señora Carrar's Rifles, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Good Person of Szechwan and Svendborger Gedichte.
During his stay in Denmark, Brecht had extensive contact to Danish theater people and actors and often received visits from other exiled Germans as well. Among the best-known guests are: the composer Hanns Eisler, the philosopher Walter Benjamin and the political philosopher Karl Korsch.
Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel lived in the house with their children until 1939, when it became necessary for them to flee via Sweden, Finland and the Soviet Union to the United States.
The house after Brecht's stay
When Brecht left Denmark in 1939, the house was sold. The house was then privately owned until 1988, when Svendborg Municipality bought it.
In 1981, Svendborg Municipality put up a up a commemorative plaque on the building's facade in collaboration with the GDR, in order to mark the 25th anniversary of Brecht's death. Through this gesture, the municipality in part hoped that the then East German government would place orders at Svendborg Shipyard.
In the early 1990s, Svendborg Municipality restored Brecht's House. The idea was initially to establish some kind of commemorative place in collaboration with the Brecht Center in East Berlin. However, since this was also the years of the collapse of the GDR as well as the German reunification, these plans were left untouched. In Svendborg, the historical changes also led to a renewed political and public discussion about whether the house should be kept in the municipality's ownership or sold. There was, however, also an interest in the Federal Republic of Germany in preserving Brecht's House. Gradually, plans were made for the house to become a working residency for artists and researchers that would be granted residence for a shorter or longer period to work undisturbed on their projects. Since the founding of Brechts Hus, around 600 artists and researchers have taken up residency in the house.
Brechts Hus today
Today, the beautiful thatched house is primarily made available to people from all over the world who want to devote themselves to their scientific or artistic work for a shorter or longer time.
Over the years, a large number of cultural events have also been held in the house either with the house's various residents as participants or by guests from outside. The most prominent guest is probably the Nobel Prize-winning writer Günther Grass, who visited the house in 2011 and talked about his writing.
Every year, many Danish and foreign groups visit the house to experience the place and hear about Brecht and his time in the house: school classes, high school classes, reading groups, motorcycle clubs.
Brecht and Walter Benjamin play chess in the garden by the house.
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv, Fotoarchiv 7/28, Foto: unbekannt.
Brecht and Walter Benjamin play chess in the garden by the house.
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv, Fotoarchiv 07/027, Foto: unbekannt
Helene Weigel was issued a driving license in Svendborg in 1934.
Behind Helene Waigel you can see the house.
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Helene-Weigel-Archiv, Ur 2
On 9 September 1981, the 25th anniversary of Brecht's death, Svendborg hosted an event where the city's mayor and the GDR ambassador unveiled a commemorative plaque on the house.