Scenes from “Cold Heart”

After your school class has toured the walk-in theater “The Cold Heart” by Wilhelm Hauff, we offer a theater-based activity in the “quiet room,” which is used for museum education. This ideally complements the fairy tale play and inspires the students to create their own creations.

Props such as hats, capes, and other accessories will be provided. For the play scenes, participants will work together to develop stories with assigned roles, which they will then act out.

The tavern scene is played out: Poor Peter Munk wins all of Ezekiel's money in a game with him, leaving Ezekiel penniless. When Peter asks if he can lend him anything, Peter realizes he has no money left either. In his desperation, he calls the Dutchman Michel for help. The Dutchman Michel offers him money and explains the benefits of a cold heart. Peter agrees to the deal.

* To the process

The students first visit the fairy tale exhibition. Afterwards, they discuss the tavern scene in a group discussion: Which characters are involved? What is the plot of the scene? What does a warm or cold heart mean? They then act out the scene once with costumes and discuss it afterwards: Was the scene clear? Does someone unfamiliar with the fairy tale understand the problem? After the second run-through, there is a final discussion before the class can visit the second part of the museum.