Das Haus

Ilse Helbich tells the story of a woman in her autobiographically tinted text "The House," who, at over 60, fulfills a heartfelt wish against all reason and the well-meaning advice of friends: she buys an old house. It is almost love at first sight, even though the house is located in a village and an area she never intended to move to. Moreover, it is dilapidated and damp, and for her, the worst part: it has been completely disfigured over generations by unloving renovations and pragmatic modernizations. Yet, she buys this "wounded" house with its "wild" garden. These words say a lot about the author and her prose: Ilse Helbich describes the house and garden as tormented creatures to which she wants to restore their original form and dignity. Initially through actions and later, by writing this book, with words.