Theater project HÜTTENWERK – Search for contemporary witnesses about the EKO

Last summer, the theater Das Letzte Kleinod thrilled Frankfurt audiences with the performance "Jacqueline" in the former 10th Polytechnische Oberschule. Preparations are already underway for the next project about the GDR era. In May 2026, the stories surrounding the Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost (EKO) and the connections to the West will be told in a play. After the premiere in Frankfurt (Oder), the play will travel through Germany as a railroad theater.

Former employees are now being sought who can tell the theater about the EKO in GDR times. The theater is asking about the different areas of production, the work of women, the care of children, the possibilities for leisure activities and the vacation homes. Particularly interesting would be stories about contacts with the West, for example with the steelworks in Salzgitter and with the workers during the construction of the converter steelworks by the Austrian company Voestalpine. The conversations also cover the reunification, the Treuhand and the labor dispute to save the plant.

The interviews will soon be conducted in Eisenhüttenstadt and Frankfurt (Oder).

The project is being realized in collaboration with the Kleist Forum and with the kind support of the Fonds Darstellende Künste.