Die Entgleisung

Thuringia in the late 1970s, in a sleepy little town, a freight car derails. The contents, which soon "seep" into the village, consist of pornographic magazines intended for the West. Naturally, the East German state wants to reclaim these morally questionable yet currency-generating publications. However, this is not so easy. Inge von Wangenheim's satire, published in 1980, has lost none of its relevance, as the issues faced by the protagonists are timeless: coming of age, first love, finding one's place in society, generational conflicts, and above all, the evil of moral hypocrisy. An afterword examines the history of the book and offers a biographical glimpse into its author.