Block edition: Classical theater - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 2004

On March 17, 1804, in Weimar, the celebrated premiere of "Wilhelm Tell" lasted for five and a half hours. It is the last completed play by Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805). The piece describes the vision of a replacement of the nobility by a bourgeois-democratic society. It takes up the story of the legendary Swiss national hero William Tell (around 1300), whose deeds are said to have led decisively to the founding of the Confederation. In the most famous scene in Schiller's drama, Tell has to shoot an apple from his son's head with a bow. »William Tell« is still a fixed theater repertoire and is part of most of the school's reading plans. The "Faust II" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is one of the most important dramas of world literature. The poet dealt with the material as early as 1772, but finished "Faust II" only a few days before his death and provided the manuscript with the order to publish it only after his death. Goethe himself was aware of the complexity of his play. For a long time it was considered incomplete. Only on March 25, 1854, the complete tragedy of Edmund Anton Wollheim da Fonseca was premiered in Hamburg. The success was overwhelming. Since then, Faust II has been played on stages all over the world.