Carolin Otto publishes Roman about Berchtesgaden after the war

Carolin Otto publishes Roman about Berchtesgaden after the war

The Bavarian literary landscape has been growing: With its first novel "Berchtesgaden", the filmmaker and screenwriter Carolin Otto, known from formats such as "crime scene" and "police call", draws attention to her work. In her book, she illuminates the complex topic of guilt and how people live with the consequences after National Socialism. The work, which was inspired by Otto during her research for the ZDF series "Lena Lorenz", offers a deep insight into the first weeks after the war and shows how the Berchtesgadeners move from the twelve-year Nazi rule to democracy.

"Berchtesgaden" plays in a contemporary history that begins on April 25, 1945 when the Americans bomb the Obersalzberg. Interestingly, the place itself is largely spared, while the locals are looting the villas of the refugees of the Nazi sizes. After the liberation from American soldiers, a military government is used, and the book urges the reactions and transformations of the population during this transition period. In her extensive research, Otto mainly dealt with the events in Berchtesgaden in the early post -war period.

A look at the characters

The novel is told from different perspectives and consists of 54 chapters. The focus is on the 19-year-old Sophie, who works for the military government and has to face the German crime not only the German crime, but also of her own responsibility. Her involvement in history deepens when she falls in love with a black Gi who can enjoy freedom in Germany that will be denied to him in the USA. She also meets important historical figures such as Frank Rosenzweig, a Jewish lawyer and captain of the American army, who is involved in interrogations, and Rudolf Kriss, a arrested folklorist who becomes mayor after his liberation.

The book not only addresses the challenges of the post -war period, but also takes a critical look at the abysses of human behavior, denunciatic structures and the interactions between different social groups under American occupation. The power of Otto's narrative style lies in the authentic representation of the characters, which remain clearly outlined despite changing perspectives.

Latest developments and historical contexts

"Berchtesgaden" is a captivating fictional story based on thorough research and is based on some characters on real people. The novel is particularly recommended for the younger generation, which is often not sufficiently informed about this story. The topic achieves broader relevance, since historians like Jens-Christian Wagner emphasize that awareness of the Nazi era and their horrors is increasingly lost, especially among younger people who have less contact with contemporary witnesses. The Arolsen Archives are actively working on maintaining the knowledge of this dark period by digitizing documents and also memorials offer special seminars for researching their own family history.

The novel comprises 544 pages, was published by Lübbe Verlag and offers all of this for a price of 24 euros. Originally planned as a TV series, Otto decided to complete the book faster. With "Berchtesgaden" she not only puts a captivating story on paper, but also helps to keep the memory of the horrors of National Socialism awake and to raise the question of how we deal with our history. One step in the right direction, because there are many stories to be told.