Voices from the Hoheneck Women’s Prison

Hoheneck Women’s Prison is a symbol of political persecution in the GDR: through draconian, inhumane punishments, degrading prison conditions and forced labour, the East German regime sought to break political opponents. An extraordinary performance combining contemporary music, choreography and light, conceived by the music theatre collective Schatz & Schande and Ensemble Neue Kammer, explores these crimes through artistic means.
Entitled I Have Become a Stranger to Myself, the performance centres on poems written by women during their imprisonment in Hoheneck and set to music in 2024 by composer Philipp Rücker. In a wide variety of forms for voices and string instruments, the poems enter into dialogue with a light installation that vividly evokes the colourlessness, confinement and monotony of everyday life behind bars.
After each performance, a moderated discussion with former inmates of Hoheneck offers a personal perspective and gives the audience the opportunity to ask questions. The result is a new form of remembrance culture: through sound and light, the artists make the oppressive reality of imprisonment in Hoheneck tangible and create a powerful memorial to the imprisoned women using their own words.

Content Warning:
The performance is based on the memories of former political prisoners at the Hoheneck Women’s Prison. The performance and the subsequent discussion with eyewitnesses will address topics such as political repression, prison conditions, physical and psychological violence, humiliation, isolation, and the effects of trauma. Some of the accounts may be emotionally distressing.