The East Side Story

This summer Lübeck students want to tie the bond of friendship with their Russian counterparts. They want to lay the foundations for a friendship between two cities and two peoples. 'Once we get to know somebody, we cannot be their enemies', say 13- and 14-year-old students in their East Side Story.

The students thought up this special musical and their aim is to finally "put to bed" a dark chapter in German-Russian relations. This Lübeck secondary school's project was inspired by a bell that has not rung in 60 years. In 1942 German soldiers took the bell away from the steeple of the church of St. Mina in the occupied Staraja Russa.

The fate of the bell and the associated recent history of German-Russian relations have been transfered into a modern musical which tells the story of Marie and Wolodja, a German girl and a Russian boy. It is also a piece about coming to terms with the past, guilt and reconciliation. Marie falls in love with Wolodja, the grandson of an old Russian woman whose husband was shot in the war by a German soldier. Marie's story emphasises the German-German relations of today, as well as the earlier cold-war induced German-Soviet friendship. The young actors show their view of things through their songs and the uninhibited language. They deal with the German past and German present light-heartedly and critically.

Wolodja, son of a former Soviet soldier, is torn between his Russian heritage and his grandmother who cannot get over her hatred of the Germans and on the other hand, his love for Marie. In the end, the power of love wins.

The young artists from Lübeck can be sure that their plans to be a symbol of understanding, friendship and co-operation will succeed with this musical. They will have already contributed a large part by the time they sing the hymn: "Now let the bell sound, let us sing the song of the future. In the last act, the musical moves to the inauguration of the rebuilt church in Staraja Russa. However, this has not actually been achieved yet. The opening, planned to take place in the Russian town in July 2002, cannot take place in the destroyed church of St. Mina. However, they are already collecting for the re-building in Lübeck. The town council has opened an account for donations.