Kalimandscharo Festival Zielitz

Theatre on a Spoil Heap

Zielitz, a municipality in the Börde district north of Magdeburg (AGS 15083), is home to one of Germany's largest potash mines. Over decades, the spoil heaps here have grown into real mountains — heap 1 is 45 metres high and offers panoramic views to the Brocken in the Harz mountains. A mix of industrial landscape and natural spectacle, which bears the nickname "Kalimandscharo". It is precisely there, on this heap, that the Holzhaustheater Zielitz e.V. has set up an open-air stage since the early 2000s.

26th Edition — Two Productions

The 2026 edition of the Kalimandscharo Festival is the 26th — not a major anniversary, but a confirmation of the endurance of this unusual theatre project. The programme includes two in-house productions:

• "Liebe, List und Kuh-Biduh!" — an "animalistically funny musical" by Sigrid Vorpahl (text) and Dietmar Hörold (music), evening performances at 7:30 PM
• "7 Geißlein allein zu Haus" — a fairy tale comedy for children aged 4 and up, based on the Brothers Grimm, also adapted by Sigrid Vorpahl, morning performances at 10:30 AM and afternoon performances at 5:00 PM

The plays are created by the association's own ensemble — amateur acting with professional aspirations, which has built up a loyal regular audience over the years.

A Pure Saxony-Anhalt Experience

Visitors to the Kalimandscharo Festival experience more than just theatre: they encounter an industrial landscape where an association has found an opportunity to establish culture in an unlikely location. The climb up the heap, the view to the Brocken, performing in the open air with genuine weather contingencies — this is the state of Saxony-Anhalt in its best sense: inventive, down-to-earth, charming. Families from the Börde district and Magdeburg are among the regular audience.