To illustrate how unjust our economic system is, Elizabeth Magie Phillips invented The Landlord’s Game in the early 1900s. This game later became Monopoly. There were two rules: Under one, money is distributed fairly. Under the other, one person collects all the wealth – they win. We still play by this second rule today. This means: capitalism as a family game.

The Droste Festival 2025: Landlord’s Game takes up the idea of the game’s inventor. It deals with injustice – also in the life of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. At times she was on the winning side, at times on the losing side.

Readings, workshops, performances, walks – and of course, game afternoons are planned. Among those involved are the art collective Baddabäm!, Helena Eckert Jovanna Reisinger, who want to reflect on glamour and kitsch, the duo this honourable fish, who will provide a soundtrack for Charlie Chaplin's silent film "Modern Times," and Miedya Mahmod, who wants to read poetry.

More information can be found in the program calendar