Das kunstseidene Mädchen

Irmgard Keun, born in 1905 in Berlin, achieved sensational success with her first two novels, "Gilgi - one of us" and "The Artificial Silk Girl" (1931 and 1932). In 1933, her books were confiscated by the Nazis. In 1935, she went into exile, where the writer Joseph Roth became her partner. In 1940, after separating from Roth, she returned to Germany with false papers, living there incognito. In the staid literary scene of the post-war period, she was unable to recapture the success of her earlier works until her novels were rediscovered by a broad (female) audience in the late 1970s. Irmgard Keun passed away in 1982.

Doris is a secretary for an intrusive lawyer. She no longer wants to type letters day in and day out; she wants to become a star. She wants to enter the big world, into the Berlin of the Roaring Twenties. From November 8 to 22, 2003, the event "A Book for the City" takes place in Cologne and the surrounding area. For two weeks, everything will revolve around Irmgard Keun's novel "The Artificial Silk Girl." Readings, lectures, theater performances, discussions, and conversations with contemporary witnesses are planned.