From the later 1920s, Brecht developed a Marxist critique of the theater apparatus and began to experiment on the margins of, and outside, commercial theater. It was not until after World War II, when he founded the Berliner Ensemble, that he finally had the opportunity to control the means of theatrical production. The Berliner Ensemble’s entire approach was underpinned by a holistic understanding of political theater. This extended from actor training to outreach activities with audiences, going far beyond the argument or subject matter of any individual play.

This article examines the development of German-language Brecht editions, beginning with the first series of Brecht works, Versuche (1930–1933), which emphasized the experimental nature of Brecht’s work.This was followed by the the Gesammelte Werke (Collected Works, 1938) with the Malik Publishing Company, which served as a protective shield against Nazi efforts to wipe Brecht out.After World War II Brecht initiated a new publication, organized by genres, with Suhrkamp in 1953 and Aufbau in 1955.This edition was edited by Brecht’s collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann and grew to encompass forty volumes.The 1967 Suhrkamp edition became particularly significant for spreading Brecht’s work among West German student radicals of the 1960s and 1970s.Finally, the most current and only real critical edition is the Berlin-Frankfurt edition (BFA, 1988–2000), which for the first time gives readers insight into the entirety of Brecht’s work.The edition of Brecht’s Notizbücher (notebooks), begun in 2010, is ongoing.The article explores how these editions got their start, how they were conceived, what they achieved, and what limitations they had. The most important question is the extent to which any static print edition of Brecht’s work can illuminate the living, changing processes of Brecht’s interests, methods, and approaches.