Was Kafka a Sudeten German? What does “German” Mean in Eastern Europe?
A panel discussion event organized in the Czech embassy
April 25th, 2023
On the 11th of May, 2023 an event discussing the meaning of “German” in Eastern Europe will take place at the Czech Embassy in Berlin, Germany with the cooperation of the German Culture Forum Eastern Europe and the Adalbert Stifter Verein Munich.
Who were the Germans in the Czech lands and how does the German minority in the Czech Republic understand themselves today? What distinguishes the Sudeten Germans from German in Bohemia and why are the Prague German writers included in the canon of both Austrian and German literature? These and other questions about cultural, historical and linguistic identity are examined from different perspectives, so that it becomes clear how multicultural the (self-)understanding of the Germans in the region is.
The aim of this event is to try to answer various questions about the role of the Germans in Bohemian countries. The discussion will revolve around the German minority in the Czech Republic but also about what distinguishes the Sudeten Germans from the Bohemian Germans.
The Embassy discussion will include select guests from different areas of expertise, including:
Petr Brod, Prague, Journalist
Peter Becher, Holzkirchen, Chairman of the Board of the Adalbert Stifter Association and Writer
Zuzana Schreiberová, Multicultural Center of Prague
To animate the event, notorious musicians were hired to play music during the discussion.
Among them :
Maja Matijanec, Piano
Bedrich Smetana : pensée fugitive from : mood pictures, around 1850, and a polka from the Bohemian Dances I, 1877
Erwin Schulhoff : from the Partita of 1925
