Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm

In the cellar of Frankfurt’s “Tigerpalast”, Hannelore Elsner sings a song about a pear tree, a song about the eternal search for beauty and youth. We sit down with her at a richly laid table, listen and talk about life, leaf through a herbarium of memories. It sounds very romantic. It is. Everything is romance, pleasure and play with Hannelore. In stylised glances, finely choreographed gestures, breathy sighs, she explains to us: “It’s just a role, you have to understand that.” We want to question the roles of Hannelore Elsner, empathise with them and make assumptions. This way, we find something greater, something that transcends her biography, that which she still represents even today. For when Hannelore sings: “Drum schönes Mädchen lass dich lieben, sonst wird dich einst dein Herz betrüben, dann bist du alt und bist allein und wirst die schöne Zeit bereuen” (So, beautiful girl, let yourself be loved, otherwise one day your heart will grieve you, then you will be old and alone and will regret the good times), we realise: There’s something about Hanni.