Imagine if war were to suddenly break out in our own country. Not somewhere far away, seen only on television, but here, right on our doorstep. Suddenly, survival from one day to the next becomes the only concern. Cold, hunger and fear dominate everyday life.

The opera »War. What if it were here?« tells the story of a German family for whom a secure future is no longer a given. They can only survive if they organise their escape – a possibility open only to those with privileged connections. The family manages to flee to Egypt. Although they feel safer there than in the warzone, the asylum seekers from the north, with their Western customs and skills that are of no use to their new country, are not welcome. Life in the refugee camp is certainly more bearable than at home, but for two years, bitterness, confinement and conflict shape their daily lives until they are granted temporary asylum. When the war finally ends after years of hardship abroad and a return to Germany becomes possible, the children are already grown up and torn between two cultures. What does home mean to them now?