Germany – Arthur Hofn

I So Need To Go Back There Soon!

I’ve been to Berlin twice in my life, in reality, and it’s not enough. There is something about the German capital city that just clicks with me. You can describe most major cities with words such as “cool” and “confident”, it’s all a matter of opinion. In my opinion I love Berlin. To be honest the last time I was there was in 2013 (too long ago). So why do I regard it so highly? Apart from great museums, food and music (both times I’ve stumbled across a free outdoor concert), I guess places are personal things based on personal experiences – I always travel by myself and I just feel like I can function there. Berlin is a city you can be alone in and not feel like you’re missing out.

The city has featured in TV series and in films many times, but of course if you can’t visit there as much as you want to, or you really want to get under the skin of a place, there are always books. Without wanting to put too much emphasis on it in this blog, of course there is a difficult history there and my love for the city is for what it mainly is now, the past is the past; I say “mainly” as all cities having some things that stop them from being perfect. When you get to books though this difficult history is woven into tales, often of hope, often of lessons, sometimes just because it’s a good story.

Elsewhere on this blog I’ve spoke about Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye To Berlin, a perspective of an Englishman living there in the 1930s, and there are many other good reads set in the city, often name-checking it in the title.

I’m still on the search for modern novels set in the German capital, ones from the 21^st century so if you have any suggestions let me know in the comments below, but I wanted to write about two books, one from each half of the twentieth century, that I really enjoyed.

Berlin Blues by Sven Regener is set in the 1989. This is the first part (or third part) of a trilogy, this being written first and the two preceding books published later. I wanted a book that dealt not with the big picture of Berlin, but with the people who lived there; with issues that aren’t specific to a resident’s life but handled within the German culture – Berlin Blues does this.

Telling the story of Frank Lehmann (or Herr Lehmann as he is know- which is also the German title of the book). Frank is soon to turn thirty and he’s increasingly being made to think about moving forward in his life even though he’s fairly happy as he is. The course of the novel places him amidst the lives of his friends and compares how they feel they are progressing and his own views on the matter. Against what becomes rather a larger canvass this is still somewhat small scale, but it has an absurd humour as we get Frank’s true thoughts on what is happening around him.

‘Listen, you pair of lovebirds,’ said Karl, who had come up to the table unnoticed by either of them, ‘I can see you’ve really hit it off, the two of you, but I think mademoiselle had better get back to the kitchen. I mean, I hate to say it, but-‘
‘Okay, okay.’
‘What do you think, Karl? Does time go faster or slower when you’re drunk?’
‘Is that the sort of thing you’ve been talking about? You’re two of a kind.’
‘Don’t hedge. It’s important.’
Karl thought for a moment. ‘I reckon it goes faster. But it evens itself out the next morning.’
― Sven Regener, Berlin Blues

Going back to the 1940s Alone In Berlin (sometimes known as Every Man Dies Alone from the German title Jeder Stirbt Für Sich Allein), by Hans Fallada, was published in 1947 this is said to be one of the first novels published in German that dealt with the terrible events of the Nazi era.

Once again this is somewhat small stakes when compared with history but it becomes meaningful when you discover it is based on a real life couple. Otto and Elise Hampel (Otto and Anna Quangel in the novel) were ordinary people who decided they weren’t just going to put up with what was going on, but they were going to make a stand to the best of their abilities against Nazism. They start by anonymously leaving postcards with what they feel is the truth written on scattered about the city, which back then was a missive risk. Not part of any support group this couple were alone in their efforts and so their lives become harder as they begin to get noticed. If true events are anything like their counterparts in the book, they were brave brave people.

“Anna Quangel felt herself trembling. Then she looked over at Otto again. He might be right: whether their act was big or small, no one could risk more than his life. Each according to his strength and abilities, but the main thing was, you fought back. Still”
― Hans Fallada, Alone In Berlin

Berlin though is in the 21st Century and as I said I’ve said both times I’ve been there I’ve had such a good time. Books that tell of a city’s past have a place but sometimes it’s also worth going there and seeing what a place can achieve now for yourself. As mentioned I’m still on the look out for Berlin books, they don’t have to have city’s name in the title, although with everything else I want to read it could be a while before I get back there, and I guess that goes for a real life visit too.

Buy Berlin Blues – by Sven Regener,
Buy Alone In Berlin – by Hans Fallada