Published in: PANTENBURG, Volker; DE SEYNES, Elsa; et al. (2016). Harun Farocki: On Display: Peter Weiss. Berlin: Harun Farocki Institut and Motto Book

Farocki, Harun

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

Harun Farocki: On 
Display: Peter Weiss
A Production Dossier
Harun Farocki
98
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05
June 4 [1979]
Dear Mr. Burgmann,
Written in a hurry, a synopsis + an excerpt. I’d prefer if we talk on the phone.
Best, H.F.1
Harun Farocki: Peter Weiss On Display
a book he is still working on—on the third part
the path of a first-person narrator from berlin in the nazi era
emigration, spanish civil war, sweden,
second world war and planned until ’45.
document-rich: the pergamon altar, the comintern line,
the social democracy-communism controversy,
spain, the hitler-stalin pact, a play by brecht,
the life of ossietzky’s daughter, the history of
swedish social democracy, gaudí, delacroix and so forth
(the history of montmartre) many inherently political biographies.
one’s own life went differently.
but close acquaintance, a man like hodann, who he
extensively interviewed and whose journal exists.
actually knew brecht.
the writing always conveys first-hand experiences
onto other lives and time periods.
as a working principle: each factual word (date) should be correct.
how far this goes:
sometimes a demolished house is sought, a photo procured,
something looked up.
sometimes very secondary sources:
where münzenberg was born, somber region, enumeration of
names of rulers. sometimes very close: a gesture one
made that finds a use in the book.
comparative cinemaVol. VII 
No. 12 
2019
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June 17 and 18, 1979 
Shooting in Stockholm 
The archive of the Harun Farocki Institut accommodates about sixty minutes 
of unused 16 mm footage (b/w image and sound) that was shot for On Display: 
Peter Weiss. In October 2016, this material was digitized. 
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working method:
interviews, sources, literary as well, visiting locations.
no set plan, in writing there always arises
another version, out of one chapter another becomes
necessary.
a lot of reworking, every page 4, 5 times. following ideas of form,
which one cannot describe as abstract. it is important for him
that the book have an even typeface with many
letters on a page. he also uses very large sheets of paper
in order to have an idea of the whole already while working.
the first-person narrator does not experience everything that 
happens in
the book
directly, there are many “levels of commentary.” so he goes
walking with someone and they discuss something and then 
comes
a new chapter and there is an essay about something.
however, this commentary also stands in relation to the hero,
to his consciousness. the world becomes consciousness, 
reflection,
not plot.
what’s with the magic of the locations?
peter weiss’ worldview is opposed to the familiar.
he wants to rescue a disappearing political culture and
therefore works like an archeologist. turns a place
that one otherwise passes by thoughtlessly into an important 
place. 
digs something up, places a small flag. 
just like in the title, the subject of aesthetics is thematized in 
the book. 
in spain it is considered that the emblematic and 
symbolic in art has to do with a politics of individuals 
that is not yet mature. to discover precursors of the proletariat 
uprisings in greece; the beautiful can only be beautiful if it 
is rooted in necessity, demanded by struggle. 
how it is treated like film: not only the importance 
of original locations and location sound, the editing 
of the particular chapter is also important. two are walking, one 
goes 
into a tent, then something else, he comes out again, and 
the scene with the two walking continues. 
the simplicity of the metaphors is also like film. a single 
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action or posture characterizes an entire demeanor. 
catalyst for the book was the visit to the altar. 
the intellectual shape of the book is determined by events and 
experiences brought about by a trip to vietnam.2
because it is something that is crucial to me in every scene—
that what is depicted is completely realistic. that i have a 
basis for the fantasy—so that basically nothing is invented. it 
enriches me—whenever i am at an authentic place. 
for example, rosner who made the comintern newsletter in 
a sort of cubby-hole clandestinely in sweden, for four years, 
hidden with swedish comrades. so didn’t take one step out. so 
he lived here illegally and the police hunted him, and didn’t find 
him. and i was unable to find out where this little room was. the 
communists, who were here in sweden, who helped german 
communists at the time, and harbored them, continued to live, 
as long as they were still alive, in the spirit of illegality. so that 
not a single, tiny detail would become public. even people who 
dealt directly with rosner had suppressed this so much, where 
he was, that no one could actually tell me exactly where he had 
resided. 
and the book was already finished and i was so sorry, i had 
already delivered the text. as i was lying in the hospital and 
already had the proofs, i suddenly received a call from a swedish 
acquaintance who was closely affiliated with rosner and wehner 
in those days and who found out where his room was. i could still 
go out of the hospital to this house that was still being rebuilt. 
and could see the apartment and the bedroom, the size of the 
bedroom and could add it to the proofs. that was significant. it 
may not be important for a reader where a bedroom in this or 
that street was found. but for me it was important to see the 
courtyard, the entrance and the size of the bedroom and the 
street in front of me.
in spain too, this cueva la potita house where hodann had his 
original first-aid station, i had to invent this in an earlier draft. 
and just after we found out where this was, which in itself was 
an enormous trip, which would be worth a chapter in itself, 
depending on coincidences, and acquaintances with people 
who suddenly remember, it is like a journey of discovery. and 
only after we now stood in spain beyond albacete in front of this 
house and then attempted to find the key to enter the house, 
to climb in, everything was still the same. the house still stood 
there as if it had been uninhabited since the civil war. the red 
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June 17 and 18, 1979 
Shooting in Stockholm 
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flags were still hanging from the roof and the old radio still stood 
there and the player piano, and the rolls that one put in the 
piano. 
the red flags were still hanging there? 
yes, it had been closed, it belonged to one of these big 
landowners who have six, eight or ten such properties and he 
hadn’t visited it since the civil war. it was completely decayed, 
old, but one could completely orient oneself. 
in this way possibilities arise of describing the course of the 
river, júcar, which is buried very deep, the sharp coast the 
poplars and the surrounding foggy atmosphere. 
– where did you get the idea for münzenberg always climbing 
onto scaffolding while speaking? 
– that is in fact an idea that is connected to this character. 
i never saw münzenberg in person, but it is connected in 
some way, in his books he always talks about hiking. he was 
always hiking, and what hodann describes in his journal: this 
enormously expansive personality, these are things that are 
connected to one’s own imagination. i imagined this man who 
must always have big views, perspectives before him that are 
connected to his plan. this is no couch potato. this is someone 
who is really always traveling, hiking, on the move, active. 
i was able to imagine this, after i had been in paris and saw 
where he lived, and he actually lived directly next to the parc 
d’expositions, next to the porte de versailles, and he always 
followed this path. the house he lived in was one of the new 
constructions in the thirties and he must have always passed it, 
so it was possible that while speaking he would suddenly go in 
there, in the park where there is scaffolding. these are pictorial, 
sometimes filmic ideas. 
also in my personal life spaces always affect me. when i’m 
writing a stage play, it is clear to me from the beginning how the 
people stand next to each other, rarely can i imagine a chamber 
play where people sit in trash cans and only talk to each other. 
there is always the image that there is a world outside. that 
there is never an entirely self-absorbed person who is sitting 
there and dealing with a problem, but it is unmistakable that 
there is always an entire world that is being effected. with 
endless ramifications that of course often make writing difficult, 
because i come upon hundreds of thousands and must always 
cut away more. 
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Published in: PANTENBURG, Volker; DE SEYNES, Elsa; et al. (2016). Harun Farocki: On Display: Peter 
Weiss. Berlin: Harun Farocki Institut and Motto Books.
© Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln
Dokumentation und Archive, D+U,
Unternehmensarchiv u. Magazine Leitung
1/ This is a handwritten note attached to a six-page typescript. The typed pages 
begin without a heading, the words “Harun Farocki: Peter Weiss On Display” have 
most likely been added by the WDR editors. 
2/ The “excerpt” Farocki mentions in the short note he attaches begins here on a 
new, typed page and probably relates to the minutes taken during the preparatory 
meeting with Weiss. 
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Harun Farocki: On Display: Peter Weiss A Production Dossier (ENG)

https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Comparativecinema/article/download/354647/446628

Harun Farocki: On Display: Peter Weiss A Production Dossier (ENG)

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