Stefan Tschök

A boy must go to prison because he wanted to escape from East Germany. All his classmates are in the courtroom when the verdict is announced. One of them is Martin. He wonders what would be so terrible about someone leaving who doesn't want to be there anyway. Shortly after, Martin has his youth initiation ceremony, wearing an awful tie and uncomfortable shoes. Now he is an adult, at least a little bit. Youth is a time of boundless desire for freedom. However, in the Saxon province in the early 1970s, Martin increasingly feels the limits that the GDR imposes on its citizens. He writes letters to the West—his father gets in trouble for it. He wants to become a journalist, but his school principal would prefer to see him as a professional officer. Martin seeks out spaces of freedom and finds his first love. He travels to the World Festival in Berlin, gets his moped license, and feels freer than he ever would again in his life. The long-awaited sequel to the successful book "Uferlinien.".