Weihnachtsgeschichten aus Berlin

The Christmas stories from Berlin collected in this volume cover a period of more than two hundred years. The proportion of authors not born in Berlin is strikingly high, a sign of the great appeal of this city. According to Julius Stinde, before Christmas 'the whole of Berlin [...] is a single, monstrous bazaar', and those who cannot buy anything should, according to Erich Kästner, give the last thing they have left: a smile, a firm handshake or a good word. No other Christmas market is likely to have found its way into literature to the same extent. In many Christmas memoirs - such as those by Hans Nicklisch, Hanns Fechner, Hans Fallada or Adelheid Mommsen - the Christmas tree plays a special role, and of course it is not just about buying any tree, but the most beautiful one. Georg Hermann tells us that a tree can burst into flames after candles and all kinds of glitter have been added. Next to descriptions of bourgeois Christmas, there are others in which misery or loneliness become particularly clear at Christmas. The collection closes with a New Year's song by Jochen Klepper, offering both a look back and a look forward, reflection and departure at the same time.