Die Waffen nieder!

Through Suttner’s protagonist, Countess Martha Althaus, the novel traces her life and, with it, the four wars Austria fought between 1859 and 1889. Her initial patriotism as a young woman quickly gives way to a fundamental aversion to warfare. She emancipates herself from her background in a war-believing family of officers through her own efforts by reading, forming her own opinions, and appearing as a clever speaker at evening gatherings. In her conversation partner Tilling, Martha finds a soulmate and her great love.

To reach a wider audience for her message, Bertha von Suttner deliberately chooses the form of a (female) life story. She peppers it with diary entries and historical documents, and does not shy away from strong emotions.

Von Suttner writes against nationalism, astutely describes the mechanisms of propaganda, and exposes—in a way that is shockingly relevant today—how enemy stereotypes are created. As part of its program expansion, the Schauspielhaus Graz is presenting Bertha von Suttner’s work—whose arguments touch on the fundamental global political issues of our time—for the first time in Austria, in a production directed by Sandra Strunz with exquisite musical and choreographic elements.