Children's play by Catharina Fillers and ensemble, based on «Heidi» by Johanna Spyri.
Director Catharina Fillers
Actors Eva Horstmann, Charles Ripley, Marco Sepe
Stage design/costumes Una Sörgel
Music Markus Reyhani, Reto Stadelmann
Comedia Theatre Cologne
Premiere 6 October 2007

Ever since its publication in 1880, Johanna Spyri's «Heidi» has been captivating children and adults alike. The novel about the young orphan Heidi forced to leave the Swiss Alps for Frankfurt is one of the most translated books in the world. Director Catharina Fillers, with members of her ensemble has created a new version of the Heidi story for the stage.



Photo © Hydra Productions

The concept of «Heimweh» (homesickness) can be traced back as far back as 1569 to a letter to the council of Lucerne, recording that an individual called «Sunneberg» had died of homesickness. Nearly 120 years later, Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer coined the word 'nostalgia' from the Greek words 'nostos' (meaning 'returning home') and 'algos' (meaning 'pain'). This became part of medical terminology that has served for centuries to describe «the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native land and fears never to see it again» («Dissertatio Medica De Nostalgia Oder Heimwehe», 1688). Since Hofer was Swiss, nostalgia was often regarded as a Swiss illness.

In mid-18th century France it is recorded that it was forbidden to sing or to whistle Swiss shepherd music, known as «Kuhreihen» or «ranz des vaches». The reason given was that if Swiss soldiers happened to hear these melodies they might suffer from nostalgia en masse, desert or even die. This led to the presumption that people from highland regions were more susceptible to nostalgia than those from lower areas.