Nach der Natur

Matthias Grünewald, the famous master of the Isenheim Altarpiece, the great naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller from the Bering Alaska Expedition, and the author himself – three different men from widely separated centuries. All three address the incompatibility of nature and society, the "silent catastrophe" of environmental destruction that has long been underway. In contrast stands the utopia of a nature that will ultimately triumph over humanity, allowing elements, plants, and animals to exist once again in beauty and peace. Sebald's elemental poem is a highly poetic work of linguistic art about the life stories of three men who have each experienced the conflict between humanity and nature in their own unique ways.