A peaceful and emotional mood among the giants’ audience in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin sends positive image of Berlin around the world on German Unification Day
Berlin celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of a separated Germany with an energetic open-air theater spectacle. For four days, the legendary French street theater compagnie Royal de Luxe turned downtown Berlin into one huge theater stage. Using the Big Giant and the Small Giantess, they narrated a poetic fairy tale of finding back together after a long time of separation and so brought back memories of a separated Berlin and the peaceful revolution of 1989. “I am delighted that we were able to capture the hearts of the people with our giants. For four days, Berlin was in a buzz.” (Brigitte Fürle, artistic director, spielzeit´europa)
Well over 1.5 million Berliners and tourists accompanied the two giants on their way through downtown Berlin and shared in their joyful reunion at Brandenburg Gate, with an audience of more than 80 million following the spectacle on German television, making the fantastic giant theater the first cultural event since the veiling of the Reichstag in 1995 to reach out to, captivate, inspire and lift the moods of so many people. “This is theater for everybody, without regards to education and merit, a renaissance of folk theater, for the Frenchmen around Courcoult remind as much of the touring troupes of Commedia dell’Arte as of the street performers of medieval times.” (Spiegel online, 09/09/28)
A similarly positive conclusion was drawn by Joachim Sartorius, artistic director of the Berliner Festspiele, on whose invitation Royal de Luxe brought the giants to Berlin: “We managed to perform a great theater festival for Berlin and to bring back memories of the festival of 1989 by artistic and poetic means. The long preparation, the overcoming of countless hurdles – all that has paid off.”
The peaceful and emotional festive mood and the joyful exuberance of the giants’ fans all over the city has also worked in favor of Berlin’s image, said Burkhard Kieker, managing director of Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH: “This was the moving prelude to the festivities around the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall which are now underway. Until November 9, the world will be observing Berlin with much interest and sympathy.”
The “Reunion of Berlin” was equally well received internationally, both by journalists and the many international visitors to Berlin. More than 1,200 representatives of the press from all corners of the world, from France to Great Britain, Russia, the Arabic countries, Chile, China, Australia, to Japan and the USA had been accredited from October 1 to 4 and covered this special fall of the Wall anniversary present to the citizens of Berlin. The Berliner Festspiele and Royal de Luxe, led by with their artistic director Jean-Luc Courcoult, managed to convey the emotional significance of this historic event to the people of Berlin and the whole world. “The giants’ performance was far more than just a spectacle. Jean Luc-Courcoult managed to captivate the whole city.” (ARTE, October 3, 2009)
The expenses of the event, totaling around EUR 1.6 million, were shouldered mainly by sponsors, with more than half of these funds being returned to the city of Berlin: The enormous technical task of preparing and executing the giant spectacle, as well as all security measures by land and by sea were contracted out to a number of Berlin-based companies. The gastronomy and hospitality industry, too, generated significant income by means of indirect returns, making the visit of the two giants to Berlin a “present for Berlin” in every way. (Brigitte Fürle)
