AQA A-Level German (7662)

## Learning Outcomes

- Understand the plot, structure and dramatic methods of _Andorra_
- Explain how Frisch presents **Vorurteil**, **Antisemitismus** and imposed identity
- Analyse major characters including Andri, der Lehrer and Barblin
- Assess the importance of motifs such as **Bildnis**, whitewashing and the **Judenschau**
- Write sharper AQA Paper 2 essays in German using relevant literary vocabulary
- Use more precise German for AO3 and more focused analysis for AO4

## AQA A-Level German (7662) Syllabus

For the AQA A-Level German (7662), you are expected to understand _Andorra_ as a literary work for Paper 2, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

- Know that _Andorra_ is a drama by **Max Frisch**, first performed in **1961**
- Identify the main plot: Andri is believed to be Jewish, is treated through prejudice, and is destroyed by the society around him
- Understand that the play is structured in **12 Bilder** and uses retrospective **Zeugenaussagen**
- Explain how Frisch uses the fictional setting of Andorra as a model society rather than the real state in the Pyrenees
- Analyse central themes such as **Vorurteil**, **Antisemitismus**, **Identität**, **Bildnis** and **kollektive Schuld**
- Understand the significance of characters such as der Lehrer, Barblin, die Señora, der Doktor, der Tischler, der Soldat and der Pater
- Explain why the teacher’s lie starts the tragedy, but the whole community completes it
- Produce a short critical essay in German that answers the exact question and supports argument with precise reference to the play

## Test Your Knowledge

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. Why is _Andorra_ often described as a parable rather than a realistic social drama?
2. How do the **Zeugenaussagen** shape the audience’s judgement of the characters?
3. What is meant by **Bildnis**, and why is it central to Andri’s fate?
4. Why is der Lehrer morally important in the play?
5. What does Frisch suggest about guilt through figures such as der Doktor, der Tischler and der Pater?

## Introduction

For AQA Paper 2, _Andorra_ must be treated as more than a tragic story about one young man. Frisch builds a drama about how a society invents an identity for someone, fixes him inside that role, and then denies responsibility for the result. That is why strong essays do not just retell what happens to Andri. They explain how prejudice works, how dramatic form shapes meaning, and why the audience is pushed to judge the whole community.

The play matters because it connects personal tragedy with wider historical and moral questions. Written and first performed in **1961**, in the post-war period, it reflects on **Antisemitismus**, exclusion, silence and guilt. At the same time, it is not simply a historical reconstruction of Jewish persecution. Frisch is showing a general mechanism: people make false images of others and then treat those images as truth.

> **Key Term: Parabel**
> A parable play: a simplified, model-like drama that presents a wider moral or political message rather than detailed psychological realism.

### Plot, setting and why the story is not just about one victim

The play is set in a fictional land called Andorra. Frisch makes clear that this is not the real Andorra. The setting is deliberately artificial. That matters because the audience should not get distracted by geography. Instead, they should see Andorra as a model of any society that congratulates itself on being decent while quietly accepting prejudice.

Andri is widely believed to be a Jewish boy rescued by the Lehrer from the neighbouring land of the “Schwarzen”, where Jews are persecuted and killed. In fact, he is the Lehrer’s biological son, born from the Lehrer’s relationship with a woman from that neighbouring state. The Lehrer hides this truth to protect his reputation. This lie seems at first to be an act of care, but it becomes the basis of the tragedy.

As Andri grows up, the Andorrans treat him not as an individual but as “the Jew” of their imagination. The Tischler assumes he is not suited to honest craftsmanship. Others attach stock ideas to him: clever with money, different, not fully one of “us”. Frisch shows that prejudice is not only open hatred. It appears in ordinary conversation, work, status and relationships. That is why the play is so unsettling: almost every character contributes something to Andri’s destruction.

Andri loves Barblin, the Lehrer’s daughter, and wants to marry her. The Lehrer refuses. Since Andri does not know the truth, he thinks this refusal proves that even his father sees him as unacceptable because he is Jewish. This is a turning point. What begins as social labelling slowly becomes self-acceptance of that label. Andri starts to adopt the identity imposed on him.

> **Key Term: zugeschriebene Identität**
> An identity imposed from outside by other people, rather than freely formed by the person himself.

This is one of the hardest ideas in the play. Andri is not destroyed by his “true” origin. He is destroyed by what society insists he is. Students often miss this and write as if Frisch is mainly interested in biological identity. He is not. Frisch is interested in social projection.

The arrival of the Señora intensifies this. She comes from the neighbouring state and is in fact Andri’s mother, though he does not know that. Her presence brings the hidden truth close to the surface. But again truth arrives too late. When she is later killed by a stone, the Andorrans accuse Andri. This is typical scapegoating: the outsider is blamed because the community already sees him through suspicion.

The end is brutal. The “Schwarzen” march in and hold the **Judenschau**, in which Jews are identified. Andri is recognised as Jewish and executed. His actual parentage no longer matters. The lie, the prejudice and the social image have become more powerful than reality. The Lehrer kills himself, and Barblin loses her sanity. The tragedy destroys not only Andri but the moral claims of Andorran society.

> **Key Term: Judenschau**
> The identification of Jews at the end of the play; it exposes the deadly result of the prejudice that has shaped the whole drama.
>
> **Test Tip:** In an essay, avoid listing all 12 Bilder one by one. Instead, select the moments that best support your argument: the apprenticeship with the Tischler, the marriage conflict, the Señora’s visit, and the final Judenschau are usually more useful than full narration.

### Dramatic structure and methods: how Frisch makes the audience judge society

One of the most exam-rich features of _Andorra_ is its structure. The play consists of **12 Bilder** rather than a tightly closed classical pattern. This gives the drama an episodic quality. We see a process: not one sudden crime, but a series of small exclusions, evasions and stereotypes that build towards catastrophe.

This is central to Frisch’s message. If Andri were destroyed by one villain in one dramatic moment, the audience could distance itself from the problem. But because his fate develops through repeated social behaviour, the audience has to think about how ordinary prejudice becomes fatal.

Even more important are the **Zeugenaussagen**. Between scenes, characters speak retrospectively as if giving testimony after the disaster. These statements do not simply provide facts. They reveal evasion and self-protection. Each speaker tries to appear less responsible than he really is.

> **Key Term: Zeugenaussagen**
> Retrospective witness statements in the play that interrupt the action and expose self-justification, denial and shared guilt.

The effect is powerful for two reasons. First, suspense changes. The audience is not mainly asking, “What will happen?” It already senses that catastrophe has happened. The real question becomes, “How did these people allow it?” Second, the statements create irony. We hear characters present themselves as decent, but we have seen their actions. This gap between self-image and reality is one of the drama’s sharpest methods.

A related idea is **offenes Drama**. The play does not move neatly to moral closure. It leaves the audience with blame, shame and unresolved judgement. Barblin’s whitewashing at the beginning is a good example of symbolic method. White might suggest innocence, but here it also suggests covering over stains. The society appears clean while hiding moral dirt.

> **Key Term: Bildnis**
> A fixed image or stereotype imposed on a person, reducing them to what others want to see instead of recognising their individuality.

The concept of **Bildnis** lies at the heart of the whole play. The Andorrans do not meet Andri as Andri. They meet a picture in their heads: “the Jew”. Every later event is filtered through that picture. Even when reality contradicts the stereotype, the stereotype survives. That is why the Tischler lets Andri take blame for a bad chair made by someone else. The truth matters less than the image.

Frisch’s dramatic method therefore supports his theme exactly. Episodic scenes show prejudice as a process. Witness statements show denial after the fact. Symbolic motifs show how societies hide guilt behind appearances. The structure is not decorative; it is the argument.

> **Test Tip:** When the question is about a theme or a character, bring in form. AQA rewards analysis of how Frisch presents ideas. Terms such as _die 12 Bilder_, _die Zeugenaussagen_, _symbolische Motive_ and _offenes Drama_ can lift AO4 if they are used accurately.

### Characters, guilt and the wider message

Andri is the tragic centre, but he is not written as a fully private psychological portrait in the modern realist sense. He is also a figure through whom Frisch shows what stereotyping does. At first Andri resists some of the roles assigned to him. Later he starts to absorb them. This is crucial. Frisch is not saying stereotypes are true. He is showing how social pressure can trap someone until imposed identity begins to shape behaviour.

Der Lehrer is morally central because his lie begins the process. He presents Andri as a rescued Jewish child to hide his own shame. Later, he delays the truth again and again. Yet Frisch does not let the audience place all guilt on him alone. That would let everyone else escape too easily. A strong judgement is: the Lehrer initiates the tragedy, but Andorran society sustains and completes it.

Barblin is both character and symbol. Her love for Andri gives the play emotional force, but she also represents innocence corrupted by the community’s lies and violence. Her whitewashing near the start and her collapse at the end frame the moral ruin of Andorra itself.

Die Señora is important because she brings hidden truth back into the play. Her visit exposes the fragility of the Lehrer’s deception. She also reminds the audience that the private lie is linked to wider political violence. Her death increases the panic and blame around Andri. So her role is not only biographical. She is a force that pushes concealed guilt into the open.

The secondary characters matter because each represents a social role. Der Tischler shows everyday prejudice in the world of work. Der Doktor represents cynical intelligence without moral courage. Der Soldat stands for aggression, domination and threat. Der Pater suggests weak moral authority: he is linked to truth, but he cannot stop the machinery of exclusion. Der Wirt and others show conformity and opportunism.

> **Key Term: kollektive Schuld**
> Collective guilt shared across a society because many people contribute through prejudice, passivity, silence or self-excuse.

The Doktor’s line, “Was hat unsereiner denn eigentlich getan? Überhaupt nichts,” is especially revealing. On the surface, “doing nothing” sounds like innocence. In the play, it means the opposite. Not acting against injustice is part of the crime. Frisch is attacking the comfortable view that guilt belongs only to direct killers. The play insists that passivity also has consequences.

This links _Andorra_ firmly to post-war concerns. The drama was written in a period when German-speaking Europe was still wrestling with questions of responsibility after National Socialism and the Holocaust. Yet Frisch avoids a narrow historical lesson. The play is about antisemitism, but also about prejudice in general: how communities invent outsiders, repeat cliches, and deny responsibility once violence follows.

For exam essays, this broader point is useful, but it must be handled carefully. Do not write vaguely that the play is “still relevant today” unless you explain why. A better line is that Frisch presents antisemitism as a specific case of a wider social mechanism: the production of stereotypes, exclusion and scapegoats.

### German Language Toolkit

#### Topic vocabulary

| German                       | English                  |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| das Vorurteil                | prejudice                |
| der Antisemitismus           | antisemitism             |
| die Identität                | identity                 |
| die zugeschriebene Identität | imposed identity         |
| das Bildnis                  | fixed image / stereotype |
| die kollektive Schuld        | collective guilt         |
| die Zeugenaussage            | witness statement        |
| die Parabel                  | parable                  |
| das offene Drama             | open drama               |
| die Szene                    | scene                    |
| das Bild                     | scene/picture unit       |
| der Höhepunkt                | climax                   |
| die Wendung                  | turning point            |
| die Heuchelei                | hypocrisy                |
| die Ausgrenzung              | exclusion                |
| die Schuld                   | guilt                    |
| der Sündenbock               | scapegoat                |
| die Verdrängung              | repression / denial      |
| die Selbstrechtfertigung     | self-justification       |
| die Feigheit                 | cowardice                |

#### Complex sentence patterns

- **Frisch zeigt, dass Andri nicht wegen seiner wirklichen Herkunft, sondern wegen der Vorurteile der Andorraner zugrunde geht.**  
  Frisch shows that Andri is destroyed not because of his real origin, but because of the prejudices of the Andorrans.

- **Obwohl der Lehrer die Wahrheit kennt, sagt er sie zu spät, sodass seine Schuld besonders groß wirkt.**  
  Although the teacher knows the truth, he says it too late, so his guilt appears especially great.

- **Indem Frisch die Zeugenaussagen einsetzt, zwingt er das Publikum dazu, die Figuren kritisch zu beurteilen.**  
  By using the witness statements, Frisch forces the audience to judge the characters critically.

- **Man kann argumentieren, dass der Doktor die moralische Passivität der ganzen Gesellschaft verkörpert.**  
  One can argue that the doctor embodies the moral passivity of the whole society.

- **Während Andri als Individuum kaum gesehen wird, behandeln ihn die anderen nur als „Bildnis“.**  
  While Andri is hardly seen as an individual, the others treat him only as a “fixed image”.

- **Je stärker die Andorraner ihre Klischees wiederholen, desto mehr übernimmt Andri diese fremde Identität.**  
  The more strongly the Andorrans repeat their cliches, the more Andri takes on this foreign identity.

- **Wenn man die Struktur des Stückes betrachtet, wird deutlich, dass Frisch eher analysieren als Mitleid erzeugen will.**  
  If one considers the structure of the play, it becomes clear that Frisch wants to analyse rather than simply create pity.

#### Opinion and argument phrases

- **Meiner Meinung nach** — in my opinion
- **Es lässt sich argumentieren, dass** — it can be argued that
- **Einerseits ... andererseits ...** — on the one hand ... on the other hand ...
- **Entscheidend ist, dass** — what is decisive is that
- **Dies wird besonders deutlich, wenn** — this becomes especially clear when

## Key Point Checklist

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- _Andorra_ is a drama by **Max Frisch**, first performed in **1961**
- The play is set in a fictional Andorra, which works as a model society rather than the real state
- Andri is believed to be Jewish, but in fact he is the Lehrer’s biological son
- The Lehrer’s lie starts the tragedy, but the whole community shares responsibility for what follows
- Frisch presents prejudice as a social mechanism, not just an individual moral weakness
- The play is structured in **12 Bilder**, which show Andri’s destruction as a gradual process
- The **Zeugenaussagen** expose denial, self-justification and **kollektive Schuld**
- **Bildnis** is central: Andri is reduced to a stereotype instead of being seen as an individual
- Barblin’s whitewashing symbolises apparent purity, concealment and false innocence
- The Señora’s visit brings hidden truth closer but too late to save Andri
- The **Judenschau** shows the deadly end-point of exclusion and scapegoating
- Strong AQA essays must answer the question directly, analyse dramatic method and avoid plot retelling

## Key Terms and Concepts

- Parabel
- zugeschriebene Identität
- Judenschau
- Zeugenaussagen
- Bildnis
- kollektive Schuld


Literary and Film Works - Andorra - Max Frisch