A young humanities scholar examines a painting, a still life: a man sitting on a chair. Aha. First half of the 19th century, Biedermeier. Oh, I see. Doesn't sound all that exciting at first… Until she begins to classify the painting, to reflect on the time in which it was created: the era of industrialization, railroads, Krupp, Marx, and Bismarck. A rapidly developing time, inventions that seemed to happen every minute, from an agrarian country to an industrial nation, fast, dirty, loud, a diverging two-class system. But the still life shows: domestic peace, order, and clarity. Outside, the world is transforming; inside, within his protected four walls, sits the Max Mustermann of the Biedermeier era. For simplicity's sake, the viewer calls him Frank. And she classifies it again: Biedermeier vs. the present: escape into a private idyll, cocooning, Manufactum and XXXLutz at home – coronavirus, war, and climate change elsewhere. And indeed, we've always been good at retreating into the private sphere. Everything won't be so bad... The image is accurate.

Lisa Froschauer

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Oct 9, 2025

The still life · Theater Lübeck

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