Heiner Müller, Der Bau [Construction Site]

John Milfull (University of New South Wales)
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Based on motifs from Erik Neutsch’s novel

Spur der Steine

[

Track of the Stones

, 1964]

Der Bau

[

Construction Site

] was written in 1963/1964, published in 1965, but not performed until 1980. With

Der Bau

, the storm that had greeted Müller’s final attempt to “correct”

Die Umsiedlerin

turned into a hurricane which blew him into a personal “ice age” that was to last for nearly a decade.

In structure and content, the new play represented a return to the world of industrial reconstruction of Die Korrektur. In the mud and chaos of the construction site GDR a new society is struggling to emerge. The problems are familiar – apathy and subversion in the work force, alienation of the intelligentsia, conflicts within the party itself between bureaucracy and opportunism on the one hand

384 words

Citation: Milfull, John. "Der Bau". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14467, accessed 19 March 2024.]

14467 Der Bau 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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