Die Schwarzen Brüder

The classic retold in striking images by Hannes Binder: a touching story based on historical events. In the mid-19th century: Out of bitter necessity, thirteen-year-old Giorgio is sold by his family in a small mountain village in Ticino to work as a chimney sweep in Milan. His master treats him like a slave, but soon Giorgio is accepted into the secret society of the Black Brothers. In the community of underage chimney sweeps, he finds friendship and solidarity – but the constant malnutrition and the work in the narrow, often still hot chimneys is life-threatening. The youth novel, published in the war year 1940, was co-written by Kurt Held and Lisa Tetzner. As a political refugee, Held had a publication ban in Swiss exile. Lisa Tetzner had learned about the chimney sweep boys through old chronicles and started the book but did not finish it. Kurt Held completed the novel, which gained worldwide fame and was even adapted into a film.