Dictatorships have it easier. They overwhelm with power and ostentation, they let flag-waving masses march and fighter jets thunder over their heads. Even the decrepit British monarchy manages to captivate the audience with its hollowed-out rituals. Democracies, on the other hand, find it difficult to stage themselves. The light show on the Main, which was announced as a highlight of the 175th anniversary celebration of the Frankfurt National Assembly, provides further proof of this.

Matthias Trautsch

Coordination of reportage Rhine-Main.

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Shortly after 22 p.m., it is sufficiently dark, thousands of onlookers have gathered on the northern bank of the Main between Eiserner Steg and Untermainbrücke, the show begins. On the opposite side of the river, blue spotlights light up, bells ring from loudspeakers, bass booms, words are projected onto water fountains. There are also many words to be heard, spoken by Jasna Fritzi Bauer, known to Tatort viewers as a young Bremen commissioner. Together with Katharina Zorn, she forms the artist duo HSI, which designed the production together with the Frankfurt studio Markgraph.

Phrases close to pedagogical kitsch

However, an "exciting and profound mixture", "a bubbling firework of light" does not want to happen. For all its colourfulness, the show remains strangely thin and pale, keywords such as diversity, identity, freedom are thrown away and fade away without further knowledge. In addition, there are sentences à la "In any case, today will not die and we will postpone everything else until tomorrow". Somewhere between school theatre, poetry album and toast, one is tempted to say if one did not see the goodwill and difficulty of the task.

Beyond revolutions and great moments such as the March on Washington or John F. Kennedy's Berlin speech, democracy with its parliamentary formalisms, tough quarrels and unsatisfactory compromises is not a firework of charisma. And there's probably not even a weakness there.

In any case, the attempt to help German parliamentarism to become more overwhelming by stretching disco-like fans of light across the Main, letting basses boom and proclaiming a "cheer for the history of St. Paul's Church" is doomed to failure. And with the umpteenth local patriotic repetition of how colorful and tolerant Frankfurt is, or phrases like "Let's raise the flag of democracy", the production comes close to pedagogical kitsch. When the show ends, there is a thinner round of applause. It will be repeated on Friday from 22 p.m.,