Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival sparked controversy when organizers uninvited Jewish public intellectual Michel Friedman, citing “security concerns.” Friedman had been scheduled to speak at a memorial event about Richard Wagner’s antisemitism and the festival’s historical ties to Nazism. After public criticism, festival director Katharina Wagner reversed the decision, re-invited Friedman and apologized for what she called a “fatal misjudgment.”
Richard Wagner founded the festival for performances of his own works in Bayreuth, Germany, in 1876. In later decades, members of the Wagner family welcomed Adolf Hitler and other leading Nazis to Bayreuth. After World War II, the family largely downplayed the festival’s Nazi-era connections. In recent years, however, Bayreuth has engaged more directly with its history and Wagner’s antisemitism through critical productions, exhibitions and symposia.
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Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival sparked controversy when organizers uninvited Jewish public intellectual Michel Friedman, citing “security concerns.” Friedman had been scheduled to speak at a memorial event about Richard Wagner’s antisemitism and the festival’s historical ties to Nazism. After public criticism, festival director Katharina Wagner reversed the decision, re-invited Friedman and apologized for what she called a “fatal misjudgment.”
Richard Wagner founded the festival for performances of his own works in Bayreuth, Germany, in 1876. In later decades, members of the Wagner family welcomed Adolf Hitler and other leading Nazis to Bayreuth. After World War II, the family largely downplayed the festival’s Nazi-era connections. In recent years, however, Bayreuth has engaged more directly with its history and Wagner’s antisemitism through critical productions, exhibitions and symposia.
#dwculture
#dwclassicalmusic
For more visit: dw.com/en/highs-and-lows-as-bayreuth-festival-turns-150/a-78101943
Please follow DW's netiquette: https://p.dw.com/p/MF1G
