Hidden History – Facetten der Subkultur in Frankfurt Rhein Main

Lecture mit Effi B. Rolfs und Matthias Stich

Founded in the 1950s by Rudolf Rolfs, Die Schmiere began as a travelling theatre company. With a wooden caravan, Rolfs toured the country before stopping in 1950 at the war-damaged Römerberg and setting up his theatre in front of the Steinerne Haus—with the motto: “Die Schmiere – the worst theatre in the world.”

The theatre moved into the basement of the heavily damaged building, where traces of Die Schmiere are still visible today in the form of wall paintings. With simple seating and an improvised stage, an independent and highly political theatre emerged, confronting postwar society through satire and radical critique. Rolfs deliberately operated without public funding to avoid censorship, establishing a practice that can be seen as an early form of subcultural production in Germany. As stated in the theatre’s 1985 chronicle: “If there is such a thing as ‘subculture’ in the Federal Republic, it began in 1950 with Die Schmiere.”

Today, Die Schmiere is continued by Rolfs’ daughter Effi B. Rolfs together with Matthias Stich and is based in the Carmelite Monastery. Through cabaret, satire and a range of changing formats, it remains a place where social and political issues are addressed independently.

In the lecture, Effi B. Rolfs and Matthias Stich offer insights into this continuity—from its beginnings in post-war Frankfurt to its present-day practice as a theatre that has maintained an independent and critical voice.

Admission: €5, including entry to the exhibition. No registration is required.

Please note that the event will take place in German.

The Frankfurter Kunstverein is an interdisciplinary exhibition space for contemporary art and culture. Here, an inquisitive public encounters exhibitions that engage the senses and discovers new perspectives on our present.

The project partner is the Diamant Museum for Urban Culture, Offenbach, which engages with historical and contemporary positions of subversive and subcultural activity in the Frankfurt RheinMain region.