A few steps away from the touristic heart of Berlin - the Museuminsel and its high praised cultural attractions and the old Berlin testified by the old cobblestones of Nikolaiviertel - Fischerinsel does not mean more than a shield showing directions to visitors looking to discover places off-the-beaten path. Once upon a time, when Berlin was divided, Fischerinsel was part of the communist Germany, and the area of Fischerinsel used to belong to middle to high level establishment members and their families.
One of them was the so-called ´man without a face´, the founder of Stasi, Markus Wolf. ´Without a face´ because the Western intelligence was not able to capture his picture, although according to journalist and author Andreas Ulrich, who penned Die Kinder von der Fischerinsel, Wolf was frequently walking in the area.
Die Kinder von der Fischerinsel is an effort to bring to life personal memories of former children growing up in the area. The author himself grew up there, as a son of a family who may have been lacking good party connections but who was resilient enough to request their right to a better housing solution. Thus, they landed in the area where among party and Stasi bureaucrats counted as neighbours various cultural and entertainment stars of the time.
Starting from one of his old school photo, Ulrich tried to reconnect with former school colleagues and friends, almost five decades later. The approach is both journalistic and personal, as besides finding out families stories at the time not relevant to their everyday life. Thus, he succeeds to present a diverse image of destinies and background, a microcosme that may resonate with the various personal stories shared at the level of the GDR as well.
It is an informative book, well written, with humour. A good example of nonfiction contemporary research for the German speaking realm,
Rating: 4.5 stars
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