The Bertinis

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The Bertinis is a novel by Ralph Giordano . The book tells the story of the German-Italian Bertini family from the end of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War . The novel from 1982 is strongly autobiographical and largely tells the story and experiences of Giordano in Hamburg at the time of National Socialism .

book

action

The Bertinis are a family of musicians living in the Hamburg district of Barmbek . Alf Bertini has a Swedish mother and an Italian father, his wife is of German-Jewish origin. Mother Leah has largely forgotten her Jewish heritage, she comes from an assimilated family and does not go to the synagogue , eat kosher or observe Jewish holidays . The sons Roman, Cesar and Ludwig are the pride of their parents, who, themselves living on the edge of the subsistence level, try to give them a loving childhood and a good education.

The Bertinis are only slowly becoming aware of the social changes in Germany, all the more since belief does not play an important role for them. The initial repression against Jewish and part-Jewish families is still being repressed; it is only the Nuremberg Laws that confront the family with the reality of the Third Reich . There was no money to leave the country, and so began a time of hiding and fear, which culminated with the threatened deportation of Lea and the nights of bombing in Hamburg in 1943.

filming

Television series
Original title The Bertinis
Country of production Germany , Austria , Switzerland
original language German
year 1988
length 90 minutes
Episodes 5 in 1 season
genre drama
production ZDF
First broadcast October 31, 1988 on ZDF
occupation

The novel was originally supposed to be filmed by Eberhard Fechner in a five-part series, but was then made into a film by Egon Monk in 1988 because of his illness , which was performed for the first time in 1988 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht . The filming locations of the German-Swiss-Austrian coproduction included Hamburg and Prague. The series is primarily based on the novel by Ralph Giordano, but differs in places and is less extensive than the literary work.

The elaborate film adaptation came up with an extensive cast, which, based on the immigration of Giacomo Bertini from Sicily and Emma Ossbahr from Stockholm in Sweden, includes the history of the family up to the rise of Hitler and the years of persecution by the Nazi regime. The film is divided into 5 parts of approx. 90 minutes each.

Episodes

Part I :

Plays in the years 1882–1934 and tells the story of the young Giacomo Bertini, who left his homeland Sicily for Hamburg. He becomes the conductor of a well-known wind orchestra, marries the Swede Emma and stays with her in Hamburg. At the same time, the journeyman locksmith Rudolph Lehmberg marries the Jewish merchant's daughter Recha, who already has a little daughter Lea. 15 years later Alf Bertini, the son of Giacomo Bertini, married Lea Lehmberg. Out of love for Alf Bertini, the equally talented musician Lea renounces a musical career. Their children Cesar, Roman and Ludwig emerged from this marriage. In times of the Great Depression, the family has an increasingly difficult time as Alf loses his job.

Part II 1935–1940:

The Nuremberg Race Laws are promulgated by the Nazis. This means that Lea is no longer allowed to work as a music teacher for the maintenance. At the same time, her husband Alf finds a job as an on-board musician on a passenger ship that commutes between Hamburg and New York.

Part III 1941–1943:

In February 1941, Roman Bertini was picked up by the Gestapo because he made himself suspicious of his love for America and for jazz music. While in custody, he is severely ill-treated. After a short time he comes out of the detention center and is forcibly removed from school. Roman Bertini falls in love with the much older new neighbor Erika Schwarz. The bombing war on Hamburg begins.

Part IV: 1943–1944:

The Bertinis survive the bombing and move to the countryside. There they are welcomed in a friendly way at first, and Alf gets a position as church music director. However, when it turns out that they are of Jewish descent, they are denounced. You have to flee again and go back to the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.

Part V: 1944–1945:

The Bertinis find shelter in a converted cellar and do forced labor in Hamburg until Lea's deportation order arrives. So now they have to go underground for good. They find a hiding place in the ruin in which Erika Schwarz also lives. The Gestapo is hot on the heels of the Bertinis. Food is becoming increasingly scarce. A long and hard wait begins, uncertain whether either the Gestapo will find them or whether the British will take Hamburg in time and the family would finally be safe.

literature

  • Ralph Giordano : The Bertinis. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 978-3-596-25961-8 .
  • Ralph Giordano and Uwe Laugwitz: "The Bertinis" and 1945 - transition from the "Bertinis" to "Party time". In: On the difficulties of living, thinking and writing. Conversation from 1986. Uwe Laugwitz Verlag, Buchholz in der Nordheide 2003, ISBN 3-933077-12-5 , pp. 10-28.
  • Dieter Thiele / Reinhard Saloch: In the footsteps of the Bertinis - A literary walk through Hamburg, Armbek, VSA-Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-87975-896-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ This conversation from 1986 was taken up again by both interlocutors 11 years later in an exchange of letters in 1997. Giordano had initially spoken out against the publication in April 1997 without clarifying revision, but after a subsequent written exchange of ideas with Laugwitz in May 1997 he declared his consent to the publication of the large-volume interview. The following books and essays by Giordano are dealt with: Hamburg - early 1947, The Bluff of Corporate “Entflechtung”, Morris, The Party is Always Right, The Problem - the “Ugly German”, The Bertinis, The Trace. Reports from an endangered world, The second guilt or The burden of being German .