When does the performance take place?

The performance takes place on November 21, 2026, at 7:30 PM.

Where will The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum be performed?

It will be performed in the brechtbühne in the Gaswerk of the Augsburg State Theatre, Am Alten Gaswerk 8, 86156 Augsburg.

What is the ticket price?

Regular tickets for the performance start at 23 euros.

What is the play about?

The play tells the story of Katharina Blum, who becomes the target of a media witch hunt after a private encounter and is confronted with the police, press, and public condemnation.

Who directs the stage adaptation?

The production is directed by Tom Kühnel and is based on Heinrich Böll's novel.

Is the event suitable for literature enthusiasts?

Yes. The performance is particularly aimed at those who value literary theater, media critique, and socio-political themes.

Katharina Blum in Augsburg: A Literary Theater Evening About Power, Media, and Dignity

Name: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
Start: 2026-11-21T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-21T21:30:00+01:00
Location: brechtbühne im Gaswerk

When Words Become a Weapon: Katharina Blum on Stage

Heinrich Böll's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum is one of the most precise literary engagements with sensational journalism, public condemnation, and the destructive power of attributions. The Augsburg State Theatre brings the novel to the brechtbühne in the Gaswerk, placing a story at the center whose societal explosive force reaches into the present day.

A Literary Material of Disturbing Relevance

Katharina Blum falls into the vortex of a media witch hunt after she falls in love with an alleged murderer. Police, press, and the public shape a supposed truth from suspicion. The biased reporting exposes not only the mechanisms of sensational journalism but also a deeply sexist system that makes a woman's dignity a public projection surface.

Heinrich Böll's Linguistic Art as a Sharp Lens

Böll's novel was published in 1974 and combines sober narrative precision with an urgent critique of the media. The stage adaptation translates this narrative tension into the theater space: language serves not only as the transport medium for the action but also as an instrument of power. Headlines, accusations, and institutional voices coalesce into a distressing soundscape, in which personal integrity collapses under public pressure.

Tom Kühnel Directs an Ambivalent Heroine

Director Tom Kühnel situates the production against the historical backdrop of the radicalizing political movements of the late 1960s and 1970s. At the same time, the focus remains on the original material. This creates a play about media power, police intervention, social coldness, and the question of how quickly a private story becomes a public judgment.

An Intense Theater Experience at the Gaswerk

The brechtbühne in the Gaswerk provides the right space for this concentrated evening: a reading atmosphere in an extended sense, where voice, language, and physicality make the literary quality of the novel immediately tangible. The audience does not expect a pleasing stage event but rather an encounter with Heinrich Böll's work about the power of literature to critically illuminate social reality.

Conclusion: An Evening That Sharpens the Conscience

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum connects literary linguistic art with political urgency. Visitors experience a precise play about defamation, media manipulation, and the fragile dignity of the individual. Those who wish to rediscover Böll's novel or further contemplate its questions in the theater space should experience this performance live in Augsburg.