Германия в България и България в Германия (Гео Милев и Димитър Гочев)
German-Bulgarian Cultural Parallels – Geo Milev and Dimitar Gotcheff

Summary/Abstract: The article offers a comparison of the two great Bulgarian intellectuals of the XX th century – Geo Milev and Dimitar Gotcheff, especially in the field of theater. The text is based on an extensive interview with Gotcheff taken by the author in 2007. They both educated in Germany, and they both returned back to work in Bulgaria. They both became flagmen for the leading avant-garde artistic trends of their time. They were both subject of persecution by the political establishment in Bulgaria, Geo Milev lost his life, and Dimitar Gotcheff was openly menaced by the Secret Services. Still, the introduction of Expressionism in poetry and theater after World War One in Bulgaria was greatly due to to the artistic activities af Geo Milev. Thus a new trend was created in Bulgarian culture, synchronic to the Western European developments. As a sharp contrast – the translations of German theater plays and the performances done by Gotcheff were never accepted by the official critique, and most of them were banned and the director was subject of constant surveillance and negation during Communist era. Geo Milev and Dimitar Gotcheff, each in his own time period influenced deeply Bulgarian culture and facilitated greatly the reception of German culture in Bulgaria. In the case of Gotcheff, who was three times awarded the title "Theater Director of the Year" in Germany, one can observe a new phenomenon – the unprecedented presence of a Bulgarian artist in Germany.

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