Sources

"Kurfürstendamm." Wikipedia.com. Accessed October 31^st, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurfürstendamm#History

"Theater Kurfürstendamm: Modern Entertainment Theatre with a Star Cast." Berlin Welcome Card. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.berlin-welcomecard.de/en/partner/theat...

"Theater und Komödie am Kurfürstendamm: Traditional boulevard theatre on the Ku'damm." Visit Berlin. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/theater-und-komodie-...

"Theater und Komodie am Kurfurstendamm." Trip Advisor.ca. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g1873...

The historical significance of theatres, such as the Theatre and Comedy at Kurfürstendamm, rests in the impact of the war on its performers and types of performances that were produced. Cabaret in particular is significant in the development of German pop culture[8]. From a 1923 news clipping in the New York Times, the Cabaret culture was Vienna-inspired and popular as a result.[9] German cabaret of the 1920s and 1930s represented an artistic and cultural sector that a variety of different popular and literary forms of expression had the opportunity to merge[10].An example of an early performer, titled an expressionist is Theodor Tagger, whom wrote essays, music critiques and lyric poetry. Tagger performed numerous controversial plays and expressions, surrounding political and social issues, appearing in various clubs in Charlottenburg during the 1920s. This performer is one example of the type of individuals that were relevant in the Berlin entertainment boom of the 1920s[11]. Literary expression, through means of comedic acts, emerged as popular forms of entertainment during this period, however, like other forms of entertainment, experienced a repressive era due to war time.

Historians, such as Wayne Andersen have explored pre-war Berlin, under the Weimar regime, suggesting that Weimar Berlin was in a state of crisis, experiencing a surface culture[12], going into the wartime years. This established a period of collapse for forms of entertainment, and the Theatre and Comedy at Kurfürstendamm was influenced by this silent period, resulting in it's restructure in the 1950s, under new ownership as well. Historian Rebecca Rovit states that theatre historians have not adequately documented the 'zero hour' for theatre practice[13]. Rovit suggests that this experience was represented through destruction, defeat, death and destitution on an unimaginable scale, as described by historian Richard Bessel[14]. The silencing of theatre culture during the war years was significant as Berlin had experienced such an incredible burst of entertainment in years prior. Moreover, as this period was significant, so was the re-emergence that Berlin saw at the end of Nazi regime, with regaining autonomy over performances. Both the performers and the shows in which they produced, regained autonomy and ability to perform. Rovit suggests that there was some difficulty that the culture faced in its resurgence due to the division of Berlin, but nonetheless we can account for this revival of the pre-war Berlin culture.

Sources

Andersen, Wayne. "Weimar Berlin: Playing on the Tips of the Waves." European Legacy, 10, no. 2 (2005): 163-175.

Bluhdorn, Annette. "Der Enkel Aus Berlin: Udo Lindenberg and the German Cabaret Tradition." German Life and Letters, 55, no. 4 (2002): 416-433.

Follmer, Moritz. "Was Nazism Collectivistic? Redefining the Individual in Berlin, 1930-1945." The Journal of Modern History, 82 (2010): 61-100.

Rovit, Rebecca. "Berlin's First Responder Artists, 1945-1946: Theatre and Politics from the Rubble." Theatre History Studies, 35 (2016): 7-38.

Zipes, Jack. "Utopia as the Past Conserved:" An Interview with Peter Stein and Dieter Sturm of the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer." Theater, 9, no. 1, (1977): 50-57. doi:10.1215/00440167-9-1-50

[1] "Theater Kurfürstendamm: Modern Entertainment Theatre with a Star Cast." Berlin Welcome Card. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.berlin-welcomecard.de/en/partner/theater-komoedie-am-kurfuerstendamm

[2] "Theater und Komodie am Kurfurstendamm." Trip Advisor.ca. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g187323-d2570595-Reviews-Theater_und_Komodie_am_Kurfurstendamm-Berlin.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] "Theater und Komödie am Kurfürstendamm: Traditional boulevard theatre on the Ku'damm." Visit Berlin. Accessed November 1^st, 2017. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/theater-und-komodie-am-kurfurstendamm

[5] "Kurfürstendamm." Wikipedia.com. Accessed October 31^st, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurfürstendamm#History

[6] "Theater und Komödie am Kurfürstendamm: Traditional boulevard theatre on the Ku'damm." Visit Berlin.

[7] "Theater Kurfürstendamm: Modern Entertainment Theatre with a Star Cast." Berlin Welcome Card

[8] Annette Bluhdorn, "Der Enkel Aus Berlin: Udo Lindenberg and the German Cabaret Tradition," German Life and Letters, 55, no. 4 (2002): 417.

[9] "Burlesque Without Borders," New York Times 1923. Accessed online https://search.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/848130656/pageview/3FF2E38E68C44BEBPQ/1?accountid=9744

[10] Annette Bluhdorn, "Der Enkel Aus Berlin: Udo Lindenberg and the German Cabaret Tradition," 418.

[11] William Grange, "Ferdinand Bruckner." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia. (2017): 7. Accessed October 31st, online.

[12] Wayne Andersen, "Weimar Berlin: Playing on the Tips of the Waves," European Legacy, 10, no. 2 (2005): 167.

[13] Rebecca Rovit, "Berlin's First Responder Artists, 1945-1946: Theatre and Politics from the Rubble," Theatre History Studies, 35 (2016): 8.

[14] Ibid.