Herder, Johann Gottfried (1744–1803)—German writer and philosopher, one of the key thinkers of the Enlightenment.
Hermans, Willem Frederik (1921–1995)—Dutch writer; author of De donkere kamer van Damokles (The Darkroom of Damocles) and Nooit meer slapen (Beyond Sleep).
Heym, Stefan (1913–2001)—German-Jewish writer who left Nazi Germany in 1933 and returned to the D.D.R. in 1953, where he came into conflict with the authorities on a number of occasions.
Hildesheimer, Wolfgang (1916–91)—German writer known principally for his dramatic works.
Hirsch, Ralf (1960–)—Civil rights campaigner in the D.D.R. who was arrested and expelled from East Germany in 1988.
Honecker, Erich (1912–94)—Honecker was the East German premier from 1971 to 1989, when he was removed from office by his S.E.D. party. Under his rule, the material lives of East Germany’s citizens improved, but there was no tolerance of political dissent: about 125 people were killed during these years while attempting to flee to the West. Honecker rejected Gorbachev’s reformism, but his rigid political outlook left him powerless in the face of the growing protest movement in his own country. Seriously ill, he escaped prosecution for abuses of power and was allowed to emigrate to Chile, where he died.
Hoornik, Eddy (1910–1970)—Dutch poet and journalist; concentration camp survivor.
Janka, Walter (1919–94)—East German publisher sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for his alleged involvement in a counter-revolutionary plot. In the face of international protest he was released after three and a half years and later rehabilitated.
Jaruzelski, Wojciech (1923–)—Polish general and last communist leader of Poland (1981–89).
Jünger, Ernst (1895–1998)—German writer perhaps best known for his work Storm of Steel, which documented his experiences of the First World War.
Kiefer, Anselm (1945–)—Painter and sculptor; one of the most successful and renowned German artists since the Second World War.
Kirsch, Sarah (1935–)—German writer who moved from East to West Germany in 1977 after being expelled from the S.E.D. for protesting against the expatriation of a fellow writer.
Kohl, Helmut (1930–)—A C.D.U. politician from the Rhineland, Kohl was chancellor of West Germany and, later, united Germany from 1982 to 1998. In November 1989 he presented a ten-point plan for German reunification which envisaged a gradual political fusion of the two states. In the event, the process of reunification took place far more quickly than expected. Kohl was also a key player in the creation of the European Union.
Königsdorf, Helga (1938–)—Writer and mathematician who started her career in the former D.D.R. She documented the end of the East German state in her book Adieu D.D.R.
Khrushchev, Nikita (1894–1971)—The struggle for power in the Soviet Union which followed Stalin’s death in 1953 led to Khrushchev becoming party leader. It took him a few years to consolidate his position and he remained in power until 1964. Even though Khrushchev had taken part in Stalin’s purges of the 1930s, he denounced the former leader and introduced a reformist policy of “de-Stalinisation.” He was unsuccessful in his attempts to reach an agreement with the Western Allies over the status of Berlin.
Krenz, Egon (1937–)—The last communist leader of East Germany, Egon Krenz replaced Erich Honecker, whose deputy he had been since 1984. He lasted in office less than three months, and later served almost four years in prison for the manslaughter of four East Germans who had tried to escape over the Wall.
Kunert, Günter (1929–)—Writer who, like Sarah Kirsch, left East Germany in 1979 after his protest against the expatriation of Wolf Bierman resulted in his expulsion from the S.E.D.
Lafontaine, Oskar (1943–)—S.P.D. politician and finance minister (1998–99).
Leopold, Jan Hendrik (1865–1925)—Dutch poet and classicist.
Liebknecht, Karl (1871–1919)—Revolutionary and co-founder of the German Communist Party (K.P.D.) He was killed by right-wing Freikorps troops in the aftermath of the Spartacist Uprising of January 1919.
Luxemburg, Rosa (1871–1919)—Co-founded the German Communist Party with Karl Liebknecht. Like him, she was killed following the Spartacist uprising.
Mann, Golo (1909–94)—German writer and historian, and son of novelist Thomas Mann. A supporter of Willy Brandt’s rapprochement with East Germany, he was nonetheless equivocal about German reunification.
Mann, Klaus (1906–49)—German writer and son of Thomas Mann. He left Germany when Hitler came to power and became a vociferous critic of the Nazi regime.
Maron, Monika (1941–)—Writer who moved to East Germany with her politician stepfather in 1951.
Meinhof, Ulrike (1934–76)—Along with Andreas Baader (see above) a leading member of the Red Army Faction (R.A.F.). Arrested in 1972 on a number of charges, including murder, she was found hanged in her prison cell in 1976.
Mielke, Erich (1907–2000)—East German politician and head of the Stasi from 1957 to 1989. After reunification he was tried for the 1931 murders of two police officials in Berlin. Mielke served less than two years in prison.
Mittag, Günther (1926–94)—East German politician and politburo member, Mittag was a key figure in managing the D.D.R.’s planned economy.
Modrow, Hans (1928–)—The de facto leader of East Germany after Egon Krenz’s brief tenure in 1989, Modrow remained in power until the elections of March 1990.
Moltke, Helmuth von (1800–91)—Chief of staff of the Prussian army for more than thirty years, Moltke planned the campaigns for, and led the troops in, the successful wars against Austria (1866) and France (1870), which paved the way for German unification.
Molotov, Vyacheslav (1890–1986)—Soviet politician and diplomat, Molotov signed the non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939, which is also known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact.
Mulisch, Harry (1927–2010)—Major Dutch author, perhaps best known for his novels De ontdekking van de hemel (The Discovery of Heaven) and De Aanslag (The Assault).
Müller, Gerhard (1928–)—East German politician; member of the S.E.D.’s central committee.
Müller, Heiner (1929–95)—East German writer and dramatist.
Noske, Gustav (1868–1946)—S.P.D. politician and minister of defence 1919–20, Noske is best known for quashing the revolutionary uprisings in Germany in the immediate post-war period.
Ohnesorg, Benno (1940–67)—Student killed by a policeman during a demonstration in West Berlin, protesting against a visit by the Shah of Iran. His death was one of the events that served to radicalise the left in West Germany.
Pieck, Wilhelm (1876–1960)—Pieck was the first president of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), a position which was abolished upon his death.
von Ribbentrop, Joachim (1893–1946)—Champagne salesman turned Nazi politician, Ribbentrop became Foreign Minister in 1938 and was a co-signatory of the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact a year later. He was tried and hanged at Nuremberg after the war.
Salazar, António de Oliveira (1889–1970)—Prime minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, Salazar presided over a right-wing, authoritarian regime with an interventionist economic policy.
Schalk-Golodkowski (1932–)—East German politician who founded the department in the foreign trade ministry which was chiefly responsible for procuring foreign currency.
Scheidemann, Philipp (1865–1939)—S.P.D. politician and second chancellor of the Weimar Republic.
Schinkel, Karl Friedrich (1781–1841)—A Prussian architect who principally worked in the neo-Classical style, his most famous buildings are to be found in and around Berlin.
Schmidt, Helmut (1918–)—Chancellor of West Germany (1974–82), Schmidt became a well-respected international statesman.
Schnur, Wolfgang (1944–)—German lawyer who defended many dissidents in the D.D.R. He became a politician during the revolutionary period 1989–90.
Scholl, Hans (1918–43) and Sophie (1921–43)—Brother and sister who
co-founded die Weisse Rose, a non-violent, anti-Nazi resistance movement. Caught while distributing leaflets, they were guillotined in February 1943.
Steinbrück, Peer (1947–)—German Social Democrat politician who was Minister for Finance under Angela Merkel (2005–09).
Stoph, Willi (1914–99)—Leading East German politician who served both as head of state and prime minister. Arrested for corruption in December 1989, his poor health spared him imprisonment.
Toller, Ernst (1893–1939)—Left-wing playwright and leading figure in the Bavarian Soviet Republic, which lasted for less than a month in spring 1919. Suffering from depression, Toller took his own life in 1939.
Ulbricht, Walter (1893–1973)—A prominent figure in the German Communist Party (K.P.D.) in the interwar years, Ulbricht was a Stalinist who rose to become party leader in East Germany after the war. He held this position until 1971.
Vestdijk, Simon (1898–1971)—Dutch novelist and essayist, author of Aktaion onder de Sterren (Aktaion under the stars) and De verminkte Apollo (The maimed Apollo).
Weizsäcker, Richard von (1920–)—C.D.U. President of West Germany (1984–90) and of Germany (1990–94).
Wilhelm I (1797–1888)—King of Prussia, Wilhelm helped bring about the unification of Germany together with his chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. He was German Emperor between 1871 and 1888.
Wilhelm II (1859–1941)—Grandson of Queen Victoria and German emperor (1888–1918), Wilhelm was forced to abdicate at the end of the First World War.
Wolf, Christa (1929–2011)—German writer who lived in the D.D.R. and was known in her country as a “loyal dissident.” After the fall of the Berlin Wall she opposed moves towards reunification, a stance which attracted much criticism.
Wolf, Markus (1923–2006)—Co-founder and head of East Germany’s foreign intelligence service.
C.D.U. / CHRISTLICH DEMOKRATISCHE UNION—CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS / DEMOCRATIC UNION
The C.D.U. was founded in 1945 as a conservative political party guided by the principles of Christian democracy. It was the leading coalition partner and provided the chancellor for the first two decades of West Germany’s existence. The C.D.U. returned to power in 1982 under Helmut Kohl, and is currently in government with the F.D.P. (Liberals).
F.D.J. / FREIE DEUTSCHE JUGEND—FREE GERMAN YOUTH
The official youth movement in East Germany, which promoted communist ideology and organized leisure activities and holidays for young people.
P.D.S. / PARTEI DES DEMOKRATISCHEN SOZIALISMUS—PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
Successor party to the S.E.D., it merged in 2007 with a western German party to form Die Linke (The Left).
REPUBLIKANER
The Republikaner, or Republicans, are a right-wing party, founded in Munich in 1983. Their platform is eurosceptic and anti-immigration. They have never been represented in the German parliament, although in 1989 they won seven seats to the European Parliament. The party’s support has been in steady decline since that electoral high point.
S.E.D. / SOZIALISTISCHE EINHEITSPARTEI DEUTSCHLANDS—SOCIALIST UNITY PARTY OF GERMANY
The governing party in East Germany, the S.E.D. was the result of a forced merger in 1946 between the Communist Party and Social Democratic Party in the Soviet occupation zone. In the aftermath of the 1989 revolution, the S.E.D. lost its leading role and restyled itself as the Party of Democratic Socialists (P.D.S.).
S.P.D. / SOZIALDEMOKRATISCHE PARTEI DEUTSCHLANDS—SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Already active in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the S.P.D. participated in government for short periods during the Weimar years. Banned by Hitler in 1933, the party went underground, resurfacing after the Second World War. In West Germany, it was a coalition partner from 1966 to 1982, and later governed with the Greens from 1998 to 2005 under Gerhard Schröder.
B.R.D. / BUNDERSREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
The Federal Republic of Germany or, informally, West Germany. Created in May 1949 from the British, U.S. and French zones of occupation. Its administrative capital was Bonn. Officially, the Federal Republic still exists, as reunification involved the dissolution of the East German state and the absorption of its constituent elements (the Länder, or states) by the West in October 1990.
D.D.R. / DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK
The German Democratic Republic or, informally, East Germany. Created in October 1949 from the Soviet zone of occupation, after the British, U.S. and French zones had amalgamated to form West Germany in May 1949. Its administrative capital was East Berlin. The state was liquidated upon reunification in October 1990.
AFTERWORD TO PART I
From the beginning of 1989 until June 1990, with the exception of my usual summer months in Spain, I stayed in Berlin, at the invitation of the D.A.A.D., the German Academic Exchange Service. Articles about that period, which was so calm at first, but later so eventful, appeared in Elsevier (chapters I to IX) and De Volkskrant (chapters X to XV).
I left Berlin at the end of May 1990, so my book stops at that rather arbitrary moment. Since then, I have maintained a constant watch on what happens in Germany and Berlin, but from a distance. As I write this, it is the end of August 1990. Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have said some things differently, but I do not think I should intervene in the account I wrote back then. Besides, I am still largely in agreement with myself, and any inaccuracies are all part of the book. The dates following the pieces correspond to the dates of publication.
First and foremost, I would like to express my thanks to Barbara Richter and Dr. Joachim Sartorius of the D.A.A.D., and to the organization’s other staff who helped me during my stay in Berlin. Also to W. L. Brugsma, thanks still for that first time, back then, once upon a time; and to Armando and Tony, for their friendship and for revealing Berlin’s secrets of time and place; to Rüdiger Safranski, Roland Wiegenstein and Arno Widmann, for their answers to impossible questions; to Egbert Jacobs, our last ambassador in the D.D.R.; to Rosemarie Still, who, often under great pressure, translated these pieces from Dutch into German faster than I could write them; and finally to Simone Sassen, with whom I shared this adventure. Without her photographs, this would be a different book; without her company, it would have been a different year.
C. N.
Es Consell, Sant Lluís, September 28, 1999
NOTES ON THIS EDITION
Part I of this book was first published as Berlijnse notities in 1990 by Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam. The prologue “Grensoverschrijding” (Crossing the Border) has been added, and was previously published in Waar je gevallen bent, blijf je (Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, 1983), and the intermezzos “Vestigia pedis” and “Oeroude tijden” (Ancient Times), previously published in De wereld een reiziger (Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, 1989), were then added to a later Dutch edition.
Part II includes three pieces from De filosoof zonder ogen (Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, 1997): “Berlijnse suite” (Berlin Suite), “Dode vliegtuigen en overal adelaars” (Dead Aeroplanes and Eagles Everywhere, previous title: “Hamburg”) and “Dorp binnen de Muur” (Village within the Wall, previous title: “De verdwenen muur”).
“Rheinsberg, een intermezzo” (Rheinsberg, an intermezzo) was published in de Volkskrant on January 1, 1997. “Terugkeer naar Berlijn” (Return to Berlin) is a speech given by Cees Nooteboom on December 7, 1997, in Berlin at the invitation of Bertelsmann AG (“Berliner Lektionen”). It has previously been published in book form by Uitgeverij Atlas, Amsterdam, 1998.
Part III was published in Dutch for the first time in 2009, with the exception of a few pieces: the opening speech for the exhibition at the COBRA Museum appeared in Vrij Nederland on 18 October 2008; the acceptance speech for the award of the honorary doctorate from the Freie Universität Berlin was previously published in Vrij Nederland (January 31, 2009), “Dunkle Tage” (Dark Days) appeared in the Frankfurter Rundschau (December 24, 2008) and the “Orgel Feldberg” (Feldberg’s Organ) pie
ce was in Preludium (May 2009).
These texts are published for the first time here in English, and Part IV was written for this edition.
The fables that make up the Epilogue were first published in N.R.C. Handelsblad, Amsterdam, in 1993, and were read by the author at the Munich Philharmonie on September 16, 1993, on the occasion of a performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra.”
INDEX
Page numbers in italics denote illustrations
Adenauer, Konrad 55–56, 245, 317, 403
Adorno, Theodor 22, 403
Agamben, Giorgio 333, 334, 342
Akademie für Gesellschaftswissenschaften 52–53
aktuelle Kamera, Die (T.V. show) 106–7, 109
Albrecht, Gerd 20–21
Alexander III, Pope 220
Alexanderplatz (Berlin) 7, 186, 187, 236, 267, 331
Alhambra 355
Angel of Peace statue (Munich) 131, 137, 138, 141
angels 155–56
Aragon, Louis 30
Armando 173
Arminius (Hermann) 110–13, 112, 114–15
Aspen Institute 52
Athene statue (Munich) 131
atomic bomb 316
Auden, W. H. 30
August Wilhelm, Prince 294–95
Augustine 311
Augustus, Emperor 113
Auschwitz 199, 241
Baader, Andreas 56, 403
Baader-Meinhof gang 403
Bach, Johann Sebastian 327
burial place 185
Bacon, Francis 376
Baden-Württemberg 387
Bahr, Egon 107, 404
Bamberg 171
Bandel, Ernst von 113
Barbarossa, Emperor Frederick 220–23, 224
Baroque 158
Barraclough, Geoffrey
The Origins of Modern Germany 198
Barschel, Uwe 56, 404
Basic Treaty (1972) 404
Basques 384
Roads to Berlin Page 35
