This week, I’ll be focusing on reading I can do to prepare myself for living in Germany. I tried to find books and newspapers that showed a variety of different perspectives, so that I don’t find myself developing a stereotype, or a „single story“ of what it means to be German.
Newspapers
Berliner Zeitung (english: Berlin Newspaper)
This newspaper is a daily newspaper that was founded in the DDR (East Germany) in 1945. Despite its East German origins, today the paper hires journalists from both eastern and western Germany, and markets itself as a newspaper for all of Germany. It tends to lean slightly left politically, as a result of its East German history.
Der Tagesspiegel (english: The Daily Mirror)
This newspaper is also a daily newspaper published in Berlin, however, it was founded in 1945 in the BRD (West Germany). Today, it is still more popular in western Berlin, than in the East. The newspaper markets itself as producing news for Berlin and all of Germany, and is one of the most popular Berlin newspapers.
https://leute.tagesspiegel.de/mitte/intro/2019/03/27/76116/
This article discusses a Theater that is in a park in the Berlin district of Mitte, which is the district I will be studying in. The Theater in Monbijoupark is an amphitheatre that was first built in 1999. Because of zoning laws, the theater director has to apply for an exemption from the city every year to build the theater, and it must be taken down and rebuilt every summer. However, there is conflict between Humboldt University and the Theater about who can build in that location. I thought this was interesting, because it is fascinating to see how arts and entertainment are treated in other places. In Berlin, the city wants the theater to persevere, while that wouldn’t necessarily be the case in the US.
This article discusses the Mueller Report from a German perspective. I thought it was interesting to read, because in the US, this is a story that we are constantly hearing, and it is difficult to develop your own opinions. However, this perspective is from an outsider, so it is less influenced by how Americans feel about the US. While I might not agree with the author’s perspective, I think this article helps me to avoid developing a „single story“ about US politics, even though I live in the US.
Fiction
The Wall Jumper: a Berlin Story by Peter Schneider
Written in 1982 (7 years before the fall of the Berlin Wall), by a West German author, The Wall Jumper tells various stories about people who have illegally crossed between East and West Berlin. It describes the differences in the sides of the divided city, as well as discussing some reasons some people wanted to go from East to West, or from West to East.
Happy Birthday, Turk! by Jakob Arjouni
Written in 1985, this book was written by a Turkish-German author, and features a Turkish-German detective. The first novel in a series of crime novels, this book follows the detective as he tries to solve the murder of a Turkish worker, despite the resistance of the German police. While this series takes place in Frankfurt, and not Berlin, I think it will still provide an interesting perspective of the experiences of Turkish immigrants in Germany.
Non-Fiction
In the Garden of the Beast by Erik Larson
Written in 2011 by an American author, this book tells the story of William Dodd, who was the American Ambassador to Germany during Hitler’s rise to power. In particular, it focuses on the responses Americans had to the Nazi regime. When he initially went to Germany, Dodd held anti-Semitic views, and he and his family initially were supportive of the regime. However, Larson discusses how Dodd began to trust the regime less, and protested against it. I think this is interesting, because it shows how people outside of Germany were experiencing Hitler’s rise to power.
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Written in 2003 by an Australian author, this book is based on interviews with people who lived in East Germany. Funder interviewed people who resisted the East German regime, as well as people who worked for the Stasi (the East German secret police). It details all of their experiences under the regime, as well as how they feel about their actions after the reunification of Germany. In Germany, there is often a perception that the DDR was evil, and the BRD was perfect, but this book talks about people who both supported and opposed the DDR, and I think it is important to see both sides.
Other Books
Emil und die Detektive (english: Emil and the Detectives) by Erich Kästner
Written in 1929, this book is a children’s book set in Berlin. It tells the story of a boy named Emil, who lives in the country, and is visiting his relatives in Berlin. While on the train, a man steals his money, and Emil and a group of other children go on an adventure around Berlin and eventually catch the thief. Kästner is one of the most popular children’s authors in Germany (his book Die doppelte Lottchen was the basis for The Parent Trap), and so this is a book that a lot of Germans read in their childhood. In addition, while the Berlin Emil visits is very different from the Berlin I will live in, I think the story of coming to Berlin by yourself for the first time will still be relatable for my experiences.
Der geteilte Himmel (english: Divided Heaven) by Christa Wolf
Written in 1963 by an East German author, this book is about conflict and issues in East Germany in the early 1960s. It is about a romance between the characters of Rita and Manfred. However, Manfred moves to West Germany, and Rita tries to convince him to come back to the East. At the end, Rita returns to the East without Manfred, and the the Wall is built, permanently dividing East and West. I think this book will be interesting because it describes the tensions building between the divided Germanys, as well as the downsides of both East and West. Today, a lot of Germans feel nostalgic about either the East or the West, and it is easier to overlook the negative aspects.
Growing in Germany 