About the work
Gerhart Hauptmann's "thieves' comedy" was premiered in 1893 at the Deutsches Theater Berlin and is among the most-performed works of German Naturalism. Written in Brandenburg dialect, the work parodies Prussian authority and shows Hauptmann's comic side — an exception in his otherwise tragically inclined oeuvre.
Plot
In a village in the Mark of Brandenburg around 1880, the resolute washerwoman Mother Wolffen first steals firewood, then a valuable beaver-fur coat. The Prussian magistrate Wehrhahn, a petty busybody, would rather pursue the politically suspect Dr. Fleischer than the thief, and overlooks the obvious crime right under his nose. Mother Wolffen profits from the blindness of authority and gets off scot-free — a bitter comedy about justice that fails precisely where it is most needed.
Cultural significance
Der Biberpelz is one of the sharpest satires in German theatre literature and is still performed regularly today. The figure of Mother Wolffen belongs to the canonical repertoire of German actresses. Hauptmann shows that social justice in the Prussian state is a matter of perspective — and that a pragmatic thief can be morally more honest than the authority-worshipping official. The play was filmed by Erich Engel in 1928 and is required reading in German schools.