Kreisjugendring Ilm-Kreis e.V. & Kuko e.V. present
80 years after the end of the war – “That a good Germany may flourish …”
Life after the end of the war 1945-1949
Musical reading
with Roman Knižka & OPUS 45
Sun, 09.11.25 – Admission from 18:30
Admission Free
80 years since the end of the war – “That a good Germany may flourish …”
Life after the end of the war 1945-1949
Musical reading with Roman Knižka & OPUS 45
Sunday, November 09, 2025
7:00 pm (admission 6:30 pm)
Audimax of the TU Ilmenau
Admission free
Remembering, reflecting, preserving
8 May 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War started by Hitler’s Germany and the liberation from National Socialism.
To mark the occasion, Roman Knižka and the OPUS 45 wind quintet are presenting their new program
“Dass ein gutes Deutschland blühe … – Leben nach Kriegsende 1945-1949”.
The work takes the audience back to the years after 1945 – to a time between apocalypse and new beginnings.
In literary texts, reports and contemporary testimonies, Knižka and OPUS 45 tell of life in the ruins, of hunger and returning home, of guilt and new beginnings.
They recall the “displaced persons” who, after liberation, wandered as survivors through the land of the perpetrators, and the political turning points of the era – from the Potsdam Conference to the Nuremberg Trials and the Berlin Blockade.
An evening full of voices and sounds
“Dass ein gutes Deutschland blühe …”combines readings, music and contemporary history to create an impressive overall experience.
Roman Knižka ‘s recitations include works by
Wolfgang Borchert, Bertolt Brecht, Nelly Sachs, Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, Stig Dagerman and Margaret Bourke-White – voices that make the struggle with guilt, hope and humanity immediately tangible.
The OPUS 45 wind quintet accompanies and contrasts the texts with music by
Ludwig van Beethoven, Hanns Eisler, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, György Ligeti, Dmitri Shostakovich, Charles Koechlin and Jean Françaix, among others.
The result is a musical portrait of a generation caught between despair and confidence – between grief, longing and hunger for life.
About Roman Knižka
Roman Knižka is one of Germany’s most versatile actors and voice actors.
After training at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, he worked at renowned theaters and became known to a wide audience through numerous film and television productions – including Tatort, SOKO Leipzig, Das Verschwinden and Hindenburg.
For many years, he has combined his passion for acting and music in literary-musical projects that address socially relevant topics.
With his distinctive voice, precise language and emotional depth, he makes history tangible and the present understandable.
About the ensemble OPUS 45
The OPUS 45 wind quintet brings together five outstanding musicians who have dedicated themselves to the goal of combining music and contemporary history in unusual concert formats.
The ensemble regularly works with actors, speakers and composers and can be seen on concert stages and at memorial events throughout Germany.
Their programs – including “Auf Flügeln der Freiheit”, “Auferstanden aus Ruinen” and “Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar ” – combine classical and contemporary music with historical documents, literature and social discourse.
With great musical empathy and artistic clarity, they create sound spaces in which memory, emotion and insight come together.
Event details
Sunday, November 09, 2025
Admission: 18:30 – Start: 19:00 – End: approx. 21:00
Audimax der TU Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Platz 1, 98693 Ilmenau
Admission free!
An event organized by KuKo e.V. – Kulturelle Koordinierung e.V.
and Kreisjugendrings Ilm-Kreis e.V.,
supported by the Local Partnership for Democracy Ilm-Kreis and the Technical University of Ilmenau.
