Visitation at Cinema Augustinum: A House Tells German History
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Visitation: A Century of German History by the Lake
A house by the Märkischen Lake becomes a silent witness to great upheavals: On Monday, November 9, 2026, Cinema Augustinum in Dießen will screen Volker Schlöndorff's adaptation of Jenny Erpenbeck's bestseller Visitation. The drama intertwines personal fates with the political upheavals of the 20th century and unfolds a compelling stage experience on screen.
A Place, Many Lives
The narrative begins in the 1930s. A Jewish textile manufacturer acquires a plot of land for his family but must soon sell the property. On the adjacent part, an architect and his wife build a modern house. After World War II, the architect's life path leads him to the GDR, where his hopes are thwarted by the political conditions.
History as Human Drama
Later, the house is passed on to a writer and her husband, who survived Nazi Germany in Soviet exile. Their granddaughter spends the years there until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thus, the dramaturgy condenses into a panorama of displacement and loss, home and origin, memory and repression.
Schlöndorff's Cinematic Staging
Director Volker Schlöndorff shapes the novel adaptation as a precise chronicle of a century. The calm stage design of nature contrasts with the historical upheavals, while the changing life stories constantly re-energize the place. The acting talents of Martina Gedeck, Susanne Wolff, Lars Eidinger, Michael Maertens, Ulrich Matthes, Angela Winkler, Detlev Buck, and Ludwig Trepte give the film a multi-layered human perspective.
Award-Winning Novel Adaptation
Visitation premiered at Cannes and was awarded the Frankfurt Book Fair Prize for Best Adaptation at the Hessian Film and Cinema Awards in 2026. Schlöndorff, who received an Oscar and the Palme d'Or for The Tin Drum, returns to a literary adaptation where history is not merely explained but becomes tangible through characters, spaces, and memories.
Conclusion: A Film Evening with Lasting Impact
The audience can expect a concentrated, historically moving cinema experience with a large cast, atmospheric images, and a staging that illuminates the concept of home from various perspectives. Those who wish to experience German history as a living human drama will find a remarkable evening at Cinema Augustinum.
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