The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Stories between East and West

Arriving in West Berlin from East Ger- many in the late 1980s, full of optimism over their new-found freedom, Dirk...

Arriving in West Berlin from East Ger- many in the late 1980s, full of optimism over their new-found freedom, Dirk Mecklenbeck, Raik Adam and two friends were shocked at the indifference they encountered in the West towards the wall and conditions in the GDR. Keen to make a radical statement, in June 1989 they threw several Molotov cocktails over the wall, triggering a series of protests against the GDR. In this acclaimed graphic novel, Mecklenbeck and Adam tell the story of this protest, from idea to execution, and of their desperate fight to secure freedom for their fellow East Germans.

Nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, this first novel by celebrated playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig is a contemporary Berlin fairy...

Nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, this first novel by celebrated playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig is a contemporary Berlin fairy tale. Set in the former East Berlin, the story opens with a crash on the motorway. When a wolf is captured on camera at the scene, after crossing the border from Poland, it is the first of many sightings that connect a series of individuals whose paths intersect and diverge. Schimmelpfennig writes in powerful prose and has created a hypnotic and visually arresting novel.

Writers Jochen Schmidt and David Wagner were born a few months apart – Wagner in the West and Schmidt in...

Writers Jochen Schmidt and David Wagner were born a few months apart – Wagner in the West and Schmidt in East Germany. They de- scribe their childhoods; watching TV, riding bikes, stealing sweets from their siblings. At school, they were both told that life on the other side – ”drüben“ – was not nearly so good. In this entertaining and honest book, two of Germany’s most successful contemporary authors explore what growing up on their side of the wall meant for them. How much were German children aware of the politics that dominated their countries?

Born in Berlin in 1989, Johannes Nichelmann is an author and journalist. In Nachwendekinder he tells the story of three...

Born in Berlin in 1989, Johannes Nichelmann is an author and journalist. In Nachwendekinder he tells the story of three young people, all born around 1989, who are trying to find out their families’ East German pasts, and to come to terms with the part they played in this chapter of history. Through numerous discussions and interviews, Nichelmann has produced a sensitive book and started an honest debate about how we can explore the legacy of memory and identity and accept the past in a world where nothing is ever black or white.

Lukas Rietzschel’s bestselling debut tells the story of two brothers, Philipp and Tobias, born in the 1990s in the former...

Lukas Rietzschel’s bestselling debut tells the story of two brothers, Philipp and Tobias, born in the 1990s in the former GDR. At first their family seems to be making a success of life in reunified Germany, but as the boys get older, their parents divorce and Tobias falls in with a group of neo-Nazis determined to prevent refugees from settling in their area, the future looks less bright. This highly topical novel offers an unusual take on the ”GDR novel“ and provides a timely insight into the rise of right-wing extremism in Germany and Europe today.

The division of Germany was most keenly felt in the capital, Berlin. In Die Berliner Mauer, historian Thomas Flemming tells...

The division of Germany was most keenly felt in the capital, Berlin. In Die Berliner Mauer, historian Thomas Flemming tells the story of this city, starting from the Berlin Crisis in 1948 and ending with efforts to protect the remaining parts of the wall following reunification. Using photos and documents from the time, Flemming shows the evolution of the wall from barbed wire fence to the planned electric ”high-tech border“. He brings to life the dramas and escape attempts along what was then the world’s most heavily armed border.

The dates 9th October and 9th November have been burned into German memory, but 4th November 1989 is often forgotten....

The dates 9th October and 9th November have been burned into German memory, but 4th November 1989 is often forgotten. On this day, 500,000 people gathered in East Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, with speakers ranging from writer Christa Wolf to ex-Stasi General Markus Wolf and Politbüro member Günter Schabowski. They all believed a new East Germany was possible. But after the wall fell, the group dispersed. Journalist and author Patrick Bauer gathers recollections from those who lived through one of the most significant but overlooked days in German history.

Susanne Gregor was born in Czechoslovakia in 1981. In Das letzte rote Jahr, three friends, Misa, Rita and Slavka, are...

Susanne Gregor was born in Czechoslovakia in 1981. In Das letzte rote Jahr, three friends, Misa, Rita and Slavka, are living in the same building in Slovakia in 1989, during the final year of the socialist regime. The girls each try to find their own feet as they struggle through adolescence, while the precarious political situation threatens to destroy everything they hold dear. Highly topical even today, this beautifully written coming-of-age novel gives a valuable insight into a corner of Eastern Europe and a fascinating period of history.

Peter Wensierski, a West German journalist and documentary filmmaker, was a regular reporter from inside East Germany. In this book,...

Peter Wensierski, a West German journalist and documentary filmmaker, was a regular reporter from inside East Germany. In this book, he tells the true story of a group of fearless young people from Leipzig who fought back against the state, spending their days printing clandestine leaflets and standing on the picket line, and their nights partying in illegal bars and sleeping in derelict buildings. Determined to challenge the system, they were the leaders of Germany’s first successful revolution, a fight so many others thought was futile, but which ultimately proved worthwhile.

The people of West Berlin – an island in Germany, behind the wall and constantly watched by the rest of...

The people of West Berlin – an island in Germany, behind the wall and constantly watched by the rest of the world – often described their lives like living in a zoo. In fact, Berlin’s two zoos quickly became symbols of the divided city’s two halves. The head zookeepers, both East and West, began a competition to collect the most animals; politicians on both sides began discussing zoo policy in order to persuade their citizens that having the best zoo proves they had the best political ideology too. This is an extraordinary, true story of desperate rivalries within a bitterly divided nation.

From the late 1940s to 1974, BBC Radio’s German Service broadcast a programme called ”Briefe ohne Unterschrift“ (”Unsigned Letters“). Each...

From the late 1940s to 1974, BBC Radio’s German Service broadcast a programme called ”Briefe ohne Unterschrift“ (”Unsigned Letters“). Each week, East German listeners were given a new address to write to in West Berlin, and various letters would be read out – both from supporters and critics of the regime. The letters were anonymous, as listening to the BBC was ideologically unacceptable in the GDR. This highly readable and engaging book contains direct quotes from the letters as well as from the Stasi’s reports of the programme.

Daniel Biskup, one of Germany’s most important contemporary photojournalists, was there when the wall fell. He watched as East Germans’...

Daniel Biskup, one of Germany’s most important contemporary photojournalists, was there when the wall fell. He watched as East Germans’ initial euphoria gradually faded into disillusionment, capturing key periods such as the flood to the West to find work – and their disappointment. In 400 photos, Biskup exposes the reality of life for the majority of East Germans who did not benefit from reunification, and provides a timely reminder that these early experiences of feeling let down and abandoned have contributed to the current discontent and rise of the far right in Germany and Europe.

Set in West Germany in the early 1960s, Ich freue mich, dass ich geboren bin tells the story of a...

Set in West Germany in the early 1960s, Ich freue mich, dass ich geboren bin tells the story of a little girl who arrives in the West from the GDR with her parents. They are forced to live in a camp for displaced people – a common experience for East German refugees. It’s a hard life: her father is abusive, her mother negligent. In her novella, by revisiting her own childhood, Birgit Vanderbeke – whose debut Das Musschelessen won the Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis – shows how the little girl escaped her own brutal reality with the help of a globe, as she imagined distant countries and faraway futures.