Simone Weigelt: Schröders

Text Christian Spunk Seipel
Translation Tobias Werner
Design Ivan Mečl
First edition
Klosterscheune Zehdenick & Divus
Nová Perla, 2025

One thing is certain: „Schröder‘s“ is and always will be the best tavern in the world! Okay, that‘s not exactly a unique selling point for a pub. Because no matter who you ask, their local bar is always the best bar in the world. The guests are the coolest, most unusual, and very best friends, and nowhere else can you experience stories like the ones you hear in your favorite bar. The pub is life, and without it, life would be very different. Although there are what feels like a million world‘s best pubs in the world, if not many more, „Schröder‘s“, located in the center of the small town on the Havel River, stands out among them all. Schröder‘s is what you might call the ideal institution. There is nothing you would want or should change about Schröder‘s. Absolutely nothing.
No wonder there are so many written and spoken declarations of love for Schröder. Above all, however, it is the pub‘s loyal regulars that set it apart. And that has been the case for generations. To be precise: since 1914! What better proof could there be that this is the best tavern in the world? 
There is a somewhat worn out phrase: „Here I am human, here I am allowed to be!“ A quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe‘s play „Faust.“ It expresses the feeling of freedom and retreat from the constraints of everyday life, where you can simply be yourself. What place better fits this description than „Schröder‘s“? This is not about staging. Neither the pub nor the visitors are staged. Nowhere else do the imitation wood, brick wallpaper, minimalist decor, and curtains at the windows seem more authentic. The drinks and food menus are realistic. It has to taste good. It‘s not about setting yourself apart with decadent culinary refinements. Most of the recipes still come from previous generations and will certainly remain the same in the future. But the visitors don‘t need to put on a show either. You come as you are, just as you‘ve been walking around all day. Why change your clothes? Everyone knows each other anyway. The old folks knew the young ones when they were babies, and the young ones will carry the old ones to their graves. But until then, cheers !
 
At „Schröder‘s“, you can not only spend your entire life, but even the whole day. From breakfast in the morning until late at night. It‘s a coming and going. Some just want to stop by briefly, see who‘s there, have a quick drink, and chat for a moment. Others whittle away the day at the slot machines, watch a soccer game on TV, or take an English course with Zehdenicker Superstar Blocky. Line dancing is practiced in the back room, which is not separated from the guest room at all, and everyone watches with varying degrees of interest. Family celebrations also take place there. At one table, an anniversary is celebrated with white tablecloths, while at the other tables, which are easy to wipe clean, the pub routine continues. In the evening, young people try their hand at games or play Skat, and the winners go home with bags full of meat and news from the city. The important thing is that it remains peaceful. Everyone can be themselves and say what they think, but the landlord, Heiko Schröder, who runs the place with his family, keeps a watchful eye on everything and knows how to set clear boundaries despite his tolerance.
 On Fridays, people meet in the afternoon to play Mau Mau. It‘s a card game that some people don‘t take seriously. But who cares? The regulars play it with great passion. Simone Weigelt‘s photo series was created over several weeks on such afternoons. 
The photographer comes from Gera and now lives in Kurtschlag, a district of Zehdenick. She is known for her photo series of people who are not in the public eye. People whose faces and bodies reveal a life that has not always been kind to them. But they are always people who know what they want. Weigelt‘s pictures testify to her empathy for these people. She never ridicules or embarrasses any of the people she photographs. It‘s very direct, personal photography. These are pictures of someone who quickly became part of the Mau Mau afternoons and the Schröder community, who was accepted by the players. They are intimate, authentic photographs, taken without artificial light and with a great deal of intimacy. There is no room for objectivity here; it is a reportage from the heart of the small-town pub and thus the world.
Simone Weigelt has achieved something extraordinary here. She has not only photographed individual people, but also painted a portrait of a pub, an image of a business in a small town in Brandenburg that is in danger of disappearing completely. And these images tell us stories. They are not only the stories of people who often began their lives in this very place and may also end them here. This series of images stands for each and every one of us. Regardless of whether you have ever been to „Schröder‘s“ or any other pub. But honestly, why would you go to another pub, because after all, „Schröder‘s“ is the best tavern in the world!