WOLF BROTHERS | PROGRESS

In commemoration of the "Gebrüder Wolf" (Wolf Brothers)

"The remembrance of a time when the co-existence of Jews and non-Jewish people was taken for granted in Germany, which is the premise on which my work as an artist has been based upon since 1995. I am interested in searching for forms of commemoration that may show what has vanished with the break in civilization of Auschwitz in Germany. The forms of my projects range from media supported performances, installations to documentary films ".

During my research for a performance in the former Jewish section in Hamburg-Altona, I made a surprising discovery: I came across the most popular traditional song in Hamburg:

"An de Eck steiht´n Jung mit´n Tüdelband".

It goes back to Ludwig Isaac, whose stage name was Ludwig Wolf. This song has been an integral part of the cultural and social identity of the people in Hamburg for the past 90 years. I grew up in St.Pauli, the working class section of Hamburg in the fifties and this song accompanied me through my childhood, at school, at family parties and later in the pubs of the workers in the harbour; yet nobody knew what story was hidden in this song. Ludwig and Leopold Wolf the "Gebrüder Wolf" German artists and stars in traditional popular music.

At the archives of the "Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte" (Museum of Hamburg´s History) I found some relicts, posters, photo collections, the typescripts of their cabaret songs, newspaper articles, shellac records and addresses of relatives still living in Achim near Bremen, Sweden and in the United States.

In May 1998, I showed an installation at the museum in Altona which had a look at new forms of commemoration in an unconventional way. The starting point was the performance of 1995, now shown in a new way in an closed space.

The research for the documentary film started in 1999 at Dieter Guderian´s home in Achim. He put his extensive photo collection of the Gebrüder Wolf at my disposal. Liselotte Höbejögi Ludwig´s daughter came from Sweden and shared the memories of her father´s life as an artist. Following up other leads brought me to Shanghai to the former Jewish ghetto and to New York where the "Gebrüder Wolf" gave their last performances. In San Francisco I met Dan Wolf a 25 years old Hip-Hop musician and actor who continued the artistic tradition of the Wolf family and who plays an important part in my film. James Wolf´s daughter Marion Hess in San Diego told me about her escape to Shanghai on the Trans-Siberian railway and also put more photos at my disposal.

In November 2000 Dan Wolf (great grandson of Leopold Wolf) visited Hamburg together with his band "Felonious". His arrival and the concert in St. Pauli were closely followed by the media, the "Gebrüder Wolf" had arrived back home.

The continuous growing interest in the history of the "Gebrüder Wolf" greatly astonished the Wolf family members, because the remembrance on their famous relatives had been almost entirely lost over the years. The family was scattered all over the world and had almost completely lost touch with each other. My visits with the relatives enabled them to establish new contacts with each other. The first big family meeting was in September 2001 at the Historical Museum in Hamburg. Marion Hess from San Diego, Liselotte Höbejögi from Sweden and relatives still living in Germany met each other either for the first time or after more than 60 years of separation.

Angela Müller (Kunstwerk e.V.) and I designed a photo-exhibition based on the true story of the Gebrüder Wolf which was presented in November 2001 at the Hamburg Town Hall. At the same time, the rehearsals for the theatre play "Die Jung´s mit dem Tüdelband" started at the "Hamburger Kammerspiele". The play premiered on January, 18 2002.

In May 2002, Angela Müller and I released an exhibition catalogue (152 pages).

In January 2003 the film "return of the Tüdelband" was finished. It premiered in September 2003 in the Abaton cinema in Hamburg. At the same time a soundtrack of the film was produced by Trikont and Kunstwerk. This CD presents 16 bands from Hamburg and Felonious with Dan Wolf from San Francisco with their new interpretations of the traditional songs of the "Gebrüder Wolf"- from rock to Hip-Hop.

In March 2003 Dan Wolf received a grant for two months given by the "Kulturbehörde" (Culture Authorities) to start the research on his theatre play "Stateless".

At the premiere of the film in September 2003 different events relating to the history of the "Gebrüder Wolf" were organized. Among them a performance in front of the former home of the Jewish community at the Wohlersallee in Altona, a walk around the city to the theatres and the places where the Wolf family lived, rap theatre, music events as well as the presentation of the CD "return of the Tüdelband" at a concert in the "Fabrik" in Hamburg.

In January 2004 the film was shown at the festival "Berlin & Beyond" in San Francisco. During this festival the Hip-Hop band "Trainingslager" from Hamburg made a joint performance with "Felonious" and Dan Wolf presented his work in progress "Stateless".

After presentations in different towns in Germany, the film and the exhibition will also be shown in Israel in October 2004. Additional events are the performances of Hip-Hop bands from San Francisco, Hamburg, Israel and Palestine.

Biography Jens Huckeriede

22.08.1949
Born in Hamburg

1967 - 1979
Worked as a businessman.

1979 - 1983
Studied social education.
Member of independent theater groups.

1983 - 1987
Managing director
of a Kindergarden.

1987 - today
Filmmaker in the film production company die thede.
Sound engineer.

1990
Lubitsch Junior, together with J. Ramcke, Chr. Bau, P. Stockhaus, M. Oppermann. 16mm, Colour, 70 Min., ZDF-Kleines Fernsehspiel, Filmbuero Hamburg.

1994
Beth Hachajim, Haus des Lebens (House of Life),
The examination of the quarrel about the jewish cemetery in Hamburg - Altona. Beta SP, Colour, 56 Min., Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

1995
"Umschreibung" outdoor street performance in the former Jewish section of Hamburg - Altona

1996
Performance in the former Jewish Volksheim in Hamburg - Altona.

1998
Indoor performance "Schatten" (Shadows) in the Altona Museum in Hamburg. 150 pages catalogue.

Eruw / "Altonaer Judentore"
Going over the borders/recollection and performance.

1938/1997
Photoinstallation: 24 landscape photographes of the former concentration camp in Hamburg Neungamme. Photographed by monitor.

1999
Transmission 1 The first part of a recollection trilogy.

2001
An de Eck steiht´n Jung mit´n Tüdelband
Photo exhibition in the Hamburger Rathaus (Town Hall), the life story of the Gebrüder Wolf. 48 panels and 3 audio stations, 150 pages catalogue.

2002
Die Jungs mit dem Tüdelband
Photo and video installation in a play by Michael Batz.

2003
Film "return of the tüdelband - Gebrüder Wolf Story"
81.30 Min., 35mm, Colour, Dolby SR.
Sponserd by the Filmförderung Hamburg GmbH and Kuratorium junger deutscher Film