Nele Hertling ''née'' Schröder (born 23 February 1934) is a German

theatre manager Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

and promoter of innovative culture. Working for the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

, from 1962, she has founded regular programs of innovative art in the city, such as Pantomime-Musik-Tanz-Theater in 1970 and the

Tanz im August Tanz im August (; "Dance in August") is an annual festival for contemporary dance in Berlin. It was founded by Nele Hertling in West Berlin in 1988, and is now presented by the Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) theatre company on various stages in Berlin. It ...

festival in 1988. She managed the program for Berlin as the

European City of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

that year. Hertling is considered the ''grande dame'' of the established German (free theatre). Rolf Hosfeld, Andi Schoon: ''Festivals 2007/2008.'' Helmut Metz Verlag, , .

Life and work

Hertling was born in Berlin as daughter of composer Hanning Schröder and musicologist Cornelia Schröder-Auerbach. Growing up in a family of musicians, she was early exposed to the performing arts and contemporary culture. After studying

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

and

theatre studies Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also enco ...

at the Faculty of Philosophy of

Humboldt University Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

, which she completed in 1957, she worked freelance for radio and theatre. She lived in London for one year with her husband, . She worked for the

, from 1962, as a research assistant in the departments of music and performing arts. There, she brought innovative art forms to Berlin. From 1974, she also worked as a senate secretary. In 1987, she took over the management of the Werkstatt Berlin to develop the program for Berlin as the

in 1988. From 1989 to 2003, she was artistic director of the

Hebbel Theatre Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Dithmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums ...

. From the summer of 2003 until the end of 2006, Hertling was director of the

DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (German: Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) is a residential program for artists of all countries and ages run by the German Academic Exchange Service (German: 'Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst', DAAD) ...

. She is a member and collaborator in numerous bodies and networks, including the I.E.T.M. (Informal European Theatre Meeting), Theorem, Gulliver Clearing House in Amsterdam, since 1995 she has been a member of the "Franco-German Cultural Council" (President since 2001), the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

's Performing Arts Advisory Board and the Board of Trustees of the . She is a co-founder of the initiative "" and a member of its strategy group. Since 2006 she has been vice-president of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.

Work

Hertling initiated several programs of innovative culture. From 1970, she created programs and series of events in Berlin, including Pantomime-Musik-Tanz-Theater (PMTT), with Dirk Scheper, for

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, music, dance and theatre. From 1972, several art didactic programs were added. In 1988, she founded a festival

, which was named Internationales Tanzfest Berlin – Tanz im August from 1999 to 2003. She was responsible, with , for the conception and program of the Germany-wide festival Theater der Welt (theatre of the world).

Awards and prizes

* 1978:

Deutscher Kritikerpreis Deutscher Kritikerpreis was a cultural prize awarded annually by the Association of German Critics (Verband der Deutschen Kritiker e.V.) from 1951 to 2009. This award was given for outstanding contributions in the fields of architecture, the fi ...

for dance, together with Dirk Scheper * 1993: Knight of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

* 1995:

Order of Merit of Berlin The Order of Merit of Berlin () is this highest award of the German State of Berlin. Awarded in the name of the Senate of Berlin, the order had recognized outstanding contributions to the State of Berlin since 21 July 1987. Awarded each year on 1 ...

* 1999:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2001: Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* 2004: Caroline Neuber Prize of the city of Leipzig * 2004: ITI-Preis zum Welttheatertag of the

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

* 2013: Officer's Cross of the

* 2014: * 2014: Officer of the

* 2018:

Deutscher Tanzpreis The Deutscher Tanzpreis (German Dance Prize) is a prestigious prize for artistic dance in Germany. It has been awarded annually since 1983. The ''Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik'' awarded the prize until 2012. From 2013 to 2017, it wa ...

* 2024:

Der Faust Der Faust, officially ''Deutscher Theaterpreis Der Faust'', is a German theatre prize, a national prize from 2006. It is awarded annually by the organizations Deutscher Bühnenverein, , Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste and the state in ...

– life's work

Life and work

Work

Awards and prizes

References

Further reading