The Chronicle of Sperlingsgasse

Wilhelm Karl Raabe (1831 - 1910), a prominent representative of poetic realism, was known for his socially critical novels and stories, possessing a keen eye for the widening gap between the old and the new that emerged during the technical industrialization at the expense of human security and nature. In a humorous and distanced manner, he critiqued nobility, small-state politics, and philistinism.

The present work narrates the life of the aging Johannes Wacholder and his housemates in Sperlingsgasse, a small side street near the Berlin Palace, through 21 diary entries. At its core is Wacholder's tragically failed love for Marie, the wife of his friend Franz Ralff. The work is considered one of the first German-language representatives of the urban novel, with its constantly shifting perspectives and erratic narrative style.