As of: February 2, 2024 12:49 p.m
“Effi Briest”, “Faust”, “Othello”: The dramaturge and literary scholar Michael Sommer explains numerous literary classics in short films with Playmobil figures on his YouTube channel “Weltliteratur to go”.
Mr. Sommer, today the Playmobil characters are celebrating their 50th birthday. How many years have you been accompanying Playmobil figures?
Michael Sommer: I was a child in the 1980s, so I was a customer from the very beginning. But I rediscovered it ten years ago.
And then, as a theater person, as a great book person, you came up with the idea of recreating great world literature. Why does it work so well?
Michael Sommer has been presenting his videos regularly on YouTube since 2015.
Sommer: Playmobil figures are actually doll toys – and you can tell stories with doll toys. Children do this in role-playing games: “You are the policeman and I am the crocodile.” In this way it is compatible with all of us because we all know this technique of telling ourselves something like that. In that respect, it’s totally a good idea.
Approximately how many Playmobil figures do you have at your disposal?
Sommer: The last “census” was a few months ago, but there are probably between 1,500 and 1,600.
It goes from the Bible to the great world literature classics right up to modern times, right?
Sommer: Yes, there are also works of contemporary literature that I summarize. Sometimes I also make factual explanations of literary history, sometimes I also make explanatory videos for companies.
Of course, many students also use this to save themselves the yellow Reclam booklet. What’s so difficult about making it so playful and still keeping the content right?
Sommer: The content has to be correct, and I try to create access so that people actually pick up the book. Of course, saving yourself the book is not my concern. My goal is to connect people with the stories so that they think, “Wow, you could do something fun with that.” Or: “It has something to do with my life.” Toys are ideal for this, although high culture and children’s room floors are actually an inappropriate combination.
Harald Schmidt also re-enacted one or two things with Playmobil figures in his show. Was that a role model or inspiration?
Sommer: Harald Schmidt was a hero of my youth, and I definitely took a lot away from him. But it wasn’t the case that I thought to myself: learning from Schmidt means learning to win. It actually happened that way in the theater work.
What is your favorite episode? And what was a particularly difficult episode?
Sommer: You mentioned the Bible – it was hard to wade through it, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, but also rewarding. It’s a bit like running a marathon. “Ulrike Maria Stuart” by Elfriede Jelinek will be published next week – a text that you wouldn’t necessarily treat yourself to in the theater is now being made accessible with Playmobil.
Further information
4 Min
Jürgen Eden has collected around 300 vehicles and more than 3,000 figures, which he presents in his “mini worlds” in Lathen. 4 mins
There are also prominent Playmobil figures such as Martin Luther, Mozart, Goethe, Bach and Peter Maffay. What about the literary characters? You’ll probably have to recreate them rather than use original Playmobil material, right?
Sommer: Exactly, there is still room for improvement. But I give the Playmobil Group a big compliment for publishing such cultural or cultural-historical figures. There is also Fontane, for example, but there isn’t that much in contemporary literature. What I would really like to see would be Lessing – that would be a real enrichment for our time.
What is Michael Sommer’s big dream?
Sommer: A big dream would be to depict real world literature, with at least one story from every country in the world. That would be great.
The interview conducted Philipp Schmid.
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NDR Culture | The Morning | 02/02/2024 | 17:30