Premiere in the Emma Theater: The Bridge of the Golden Horn” inspires!

Premiere in the Emma Theater: The Bridge of the Golden Horn” inspires!

On August 29, 2025, the Osnabrück Theater celebrated the premiere of its new play “The Bridge of the Golden Horn,” an inspired production of the novel of the same name by Emine Sevgi Özdamar, published in 1998. This gripping story outlines the life story of a young woman from Istanbul who emigrated to Germany to make a living as a worker at Telefunken and then pursue her dream of acting. The story unfolds against the backdrop of political unrest in Turkey, where the protagonist is deeply involved in the student movement and experiences the terror of the Turkish state first hand. After her return to Germany, the return to the German language becomes a central theme of her identity as she has lost her native language. This multifaceted narrative of fear of loss, hope and self-empowerment is vividly portrayed by nachtkritik.de.

The adaptation of the novel for the stage was written by Tanju Girişken and Sophie Hein and lasts around 1 hour and 45 minutes. This production uses an interactive format that includes question and answer sessions and discussions on the topics of multilingualism and exile. Guest musician Elif Batman brings additional perspectives by vividly illustrating the experiences of a bilingual audience member. The team of actors, consisting of Lua Mariell Barros Heckmanns, William Hauf and Sascha Maria Icks, presents the story primarily in scenic highlights and type sketches, although dialogue is largely missing.

A look at the artist Emine Sevgi Özdamar

Emine Sevgi Özdamar, born in Malatyla in 1946, has lived in Germany since 1971 and has established herself as one of the outstanding voices in migrant literature. She is the first non-German-speaking author to receive the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 1991. Her writings not only address the challenges of migration, but also the confrontation with a multicultural reality. Özdamar came to Germany as a worker and incorporates autobiographical elements into her works, particularly her childhood and youth in Turkey as well as the influence of her family on her life and work. Her texts are characterized by their very own, creative language, which often combines grammatical and syntactic rule violations as well as Turkish influences. She strives to build a bridge between her origins and German culture, as journals.openedition.org describes.

Through the loss of her native language and the reclaiming of her identity in the German-speaking world, she addresses numerous social issues, including the position of women in Turkish society. Her work stimulates thought and reflection on cultural identities and the challenges associated with migration, which is important in the current debate about migration and integration.

Cultural reflection and social development

Migration has become an omnipresent topic in Germany, especially since the second half of the 20th century. The social framework has changed significantly, no matter what academia.edu shows. Negative attitudes towards migration are often based on a fear of loss of identity. While in the past clinging to a homogeneous cultural identity predominated, the integration of migrants is now more important than ever. Statistics show that around 20% of the German population already has a migration background. In order to promote peaceful coexistence, it is essential to accept migration as a natural process and to actively shape inclusion and integration.

The production of “The Bridge from the Golden Horn” serves not only as an artistic expression, but also as a platform for examining the topics of identity, multilingualism and life in exile. Özdamar's work clearly shows the importance of building bridges between cultures - a message that is more relevant than ever.