Der stille Freund

Ferdinand von Schirach writes about the vulnerability of humanity, its triumphs and failures. His stories tell of the upper class and aristocrats, of death and crime, of music, film, painting, and philosophy. They take place in Berlin, Cape Town, Rome, Vienna, and on the Côte d'Azur. They recount private encounters, historical events, and personalities such as the tennis player Gottfried von Cramm, the architect Adolf Loos, or the Viennese writer, actor, and cultural philosopher Egon Friedell. Time and again, his new book "The Silent Friend" narrates coincidences that irrevocably change a life, the incomprehensibility and greatness of humanity, the uncertainty of existence, and the longing for protection, security, and freedom.