Die Waffen nieder!

She has given her name to a street, a square, and an elementary school in Graz; her portrait was on the 1,000-shilling note and is currently seen on the Austrian 2-euro coin: Bertha von Suttner. As the first woman, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. In addition to her pacifist commitment, her life's work also includes a large novel that was widely quoted during the 1968 movement but is hardly read today. Rarely has a novel title been so programmatic for its content as Suttner's call "Lay Down Your Arms!".

Through her protagonist, Countess Martha Althaus, von Suttner reflects on her life and the four wars that Austria fought between 1859 and 1889. Her initial patriotism as a young woman quickly gives way to a fundamental aversion to warfare. She emancipates herself from her origins in a militaristic officer family by reading, forming her own opinion, and appearing as a smart speaker in evening gatherings. In her conversation partner Tilling, Martha finds a kindred spirit and her great love.

To reach a broader readership with her message, Bertha von Suttner deliberately chooses the form of a (female) life story. She spices it up with diary entries and historical documents and does not shy away from strong emotions.

Von Suttner writes against nationalism, incisively describes the mechanisms of propaganda, and reveals – startlingly current – how enemy images are created. As part of the programmatic expansion of the canon, the Schauspielhaus Graz presents Bertha von Suttner's work, which touches on the fundamental global political questions of our present, for the first time in Austria – in the finely musically choreographed direction of Sandra Strunz.

Tickets: are available online at ticketzentrum.at as well as at the Ticketzentrum, Kaiser-Josef-Platz 10, 8010 Graz.