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His first play was called "The Devil in Aachen" - and the devil lost to the Schängche, as he has so often done since then. For 105 years, Aachen's Öcher Schängche puppet theater has been a permanent fixture in the city's cultural life. As the centenary fell in the middle of the Corona pandemic, the 105th anniversary now offers the opportunity to make the stage visible and to arouse the curiosity of all those who may not yet or no longer know the Schängche.

Until June 12, the Elisenbrunnen Customer Center of Sparkasse Aachen on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz is hosting an exhibition that offers a look behind the scenes of the stage.

The exhibition is freely accessible during regular opening hours, Mondays to Thursdays between 9 am and 5 pm and Fridays between 9 am and 1 pm. Entrance via the Elisengalerie. This exhibition is made possible by the support of Sparkasse Aachen and the Kulturbetrieb der Stadt Aachen.

The stage was founded on May 4, 1921 and has been a municipal institution since 1952. In addition to the cultural operations of the city of Aachen, the Förderkreis Öcher Schängche e.V. is an important pillar, which works on a voluntary basis for the further development of the stage.

Pieces from the collection and theater

For the exhibition, play director Hanna Birmans and stage manager Peter Reuters combed through the collection and selected the most beautiful pieces. On display are entire figures, puppet heads, costumes, props and a large-scale backdrop. The stage has dozens of heads, handcrafted individual pieces made from lime wood. These include some heads from the "Pech & Schwefel" collection. Since 2008, cabaret artist Wendelin Haverkamp has developed and performed the stick puppet cabaret together with the Förderkreis Öcher Schängche. These heads are portrait puppets, images of real people, which gave the cabaret its unmistakable face. Some of the costumes were made especially for certain plays, while others move from production to production, always in new combinations.

Advertising posters, program booklets and the history of the stage

Other items on display include old advertising posters and program booklets, handwritten records of box office takings and visitor numbers, with admission prices still in pfennigs, as well as personal notes by Matthias Stevens and original texts of short plays that were performed on special municipal occasions. There are also certificates and letters of congratulations on the stage's awards, including the Thouet Mundart Prize of the City of Aachen from 1986. There are also letters in which the cultural mission of the stage and the necessity of its municipal sponsorship were repeatedly justified and defended. Documents that show that 105 years of existence were not a matter of course.

In addition to the exhibits, information boards provide an insight into the history of the stage, introduce the most important figures and shed light on the puppet carnival, which is also celebrating an anniversary this year: the participatory session in the Red Hall has been an integral part of Aachen's Fastelovvend for 30 years.