"There is no such thing as a good war"

Created: 06/25/2022, 06:00

By: Hans Moritz

Looting and drinking: The wild men are a feature of the Sweden Games.

© Bauersachs Peter

The Volksspielgruppe Altenerding received a lot of applause at the premiere of the Swedish Games, the first since 2009. And yet this time everything was different than usual.

Erding – At the end of a two-hour performance – Erding lies in the dark of a warm summer night – a spotlight is directed at the beautiful tower, through the gate of which OB Max Gotz steps – dressed all in black.

Once again he recalls how war, the plague and hunger brought misery to Erding in the 17th century.

And then focus on the present.

"There is also hardship and misery in our time", brought about by war-mongering rulers.

Nevertheless, one should not lose courage and confidence.

This closes the circle at the Sweden Games that will make the 2022 performances very special.

Because the Swedish attack on Erding in 1632 is a fatal reminder of Russia's attack on the Ukraine.

The historical drama gains an oppressive and almost painful topicality.

The sentence from the magistrate, in which the imminent attack by the Swedes was discussed: "There is no good war."

Reality has taken the Sweden games, 1978, its wild passion.

Most recently, in 2009, it was above all fun to see the mimes of the Volksspielgruppe Altenerding, disguised as plundering, bearded Swedes, raging wildly through the scenes.

At the premiere on Thursday evening, almost 800 spectators laughed in their throats.

The actors impressively succeeded in showing the saturated affluent society what it means when men are called to arms and women and children are left between hope and fear.

Heartbreaking scenes took place on the stage in front of the beautiful tower - a big compliment to the almost 150 actors.

Martin Garmaier, who played the mayor rather than the pastor, and in this role repeatedly verbally attacked the bigoted pastor (excellently played by Hermann Dichtl), attracted particular attention.

The Swedish Games transport the audience to Erding's darkest days during the Thirty Years' War.

It's a poor city, unable to afford the war taxes.

On May 18, 1632, Erding was attacked and the town reduced to rubble and ashes.

105 houses are destroyed, 100 dead.

The audience learns all this and the historical context from the narrator, who was introduced for the first time this year.

Wolfgang Wimmer classifies the actions and is a serious guide through the story.

The misery stays in the starving city for a few years.

The fires are shown very vividly, but also the immeasurable suffering of the civilian population - through looting, death and rape.

When the military situation begins to calm down, the plague breaks out in Erding.

But it is also impressively shown how some men return home from the war - and a great love finally gets its chance.

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All of this perfectly staged, above all by Erich Peinelt, Renate Eßbaumer and Manuela Schieder.

For them it should be true: If the dress rehearsal goes wrong, the premiere will be all the more glamorous.

On Tuesday there was a knife attack next to the stage, the next day there was a burst water pipe, a technician suffering from Corona and there was no sound.

"We were about to cancel the premiere," Eßbaumer admitted.

What a blessing that your nerves held up.

Our conclusion: absolutely worth seeing.

And yes, there are still tickets.

All information about the Sweden Games at www.volksspielgruppe.de.

Tickets for all dates up to July 23rd are available at the Stadthalle.

It starts at 9 p.m. each day.

The Swedish camp with beer garden opens at 4 p.m. on match days.

The performance, which was canceled on Friday due to rain, will be made up for on Sunday.