Werther loves Charlotte. But she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would marry her fiancé Albert and, since her death, has dutifully looked after her seven younger siblings, with whom she lives in their father's house. It is a snowy Christmas Day in Wetzlar when Werther, with a pistol borrowed from Albert, seeks the only way out that he himself can still see. The opera »Werther« by Jules Massenet premieres in the Maguerre-Saal on 31 January 2025. It is based on Goethe's famous epistolary novel. Martin Wißner presents it in the Lesezeit (in German).

As part of the International Weeks against Racism, Henriette Blumenau will read from the debut novel by Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winner Sharon Dodua Otoo.
prize winner Sharon Dodua Otoo. ‘Adas Raum’ weaves the life stories of several women into a journey through the centuries and across continents.
centuries and across continents, from Totope in present-day Ghana in 1459 to Berlin in 2019. Ada is many women, she lives many lives. She experiences misery, but also happiness, she is a victim of racism and sexism, resists and fights for her independence. ‘A key to a whole new world’ (Denis Scheck).