ADALBERT'S SPA

The play tells the true and doubly tragic story of Adalbert Kaba-Klein (1895–1962), the former Jewish owner of the Binz Kurhaus. He fell victim to the arbitrariness of political power structures twice: first, he lost everything—and nearly his life—due to the Nazis’ “Aryanization.” Then, in 1953 in the GDR, he was forcibly expropriated and arrested as part of “Operation Rose.” In front of the Kurhaus, a Stolperstein commemorates his fate. But where is the second stone?

In front of the Binz Kurhaus, a single Stolperstein commemorates Adalbert Kaba-Klein. Yet the story of the former Jewish director of the Kurhaus actually calls for two. The performance of“Adalbert’s Kurhaus” not onlytells the story of an extraordinary life but also invites the audience to imagine what it means for a person to suffer the arbitrariness of two political systems at once.

Under the Nazis, Kaba-Klein, who was Jewish, was expropriated, lost his hotel, was deported, and narrowly escaped extermination. After the war, he fought to reclaim his hotel. But in 1953, he is struck by “Aktion Rose,” a wave of expropriations carried out by the GDR regime along the Baltic Sea coast to nationalize hotels, with a focus on Rügen. Kaba-Klein is expropriated once again and sentenced to ten years in prison.

Before these blows of fate, Adalbert was a fun-loving, nonconformist. He brought Berlin’s high society to his home with the Kakadu Bar and the Koralle Cabaret, and strolled along the Binz promenade with a pig.

The play shows how a person can become a pawn of political systems. And it raises the question of what happens when one is deprived of the freedom to act independently—a freedom we actually take for granted today.

Cast: Boris Ben Siegel, Marilena Weichert, Roland Pfaus, Stefan Waak, and others. Direction / Set Design: Jeanette Rosen

After the performances, there will be an opportunity to speak with historians from the Prora Documentation Center and the cast.

Doors open: 6:00 p.m., Start: 7:00 p.m.

Admission: €15