The discovery of the currywurst

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The discovery of the currywurst is a novella with a frame story by Uwe Timm from 1993.

content

A man who is no longer very young travels to Hamburg , the city of his childhood. There he visits Mrs. Brücker, the former owner of a snack bar , seven times in the old people's home and lets her tell you about a long episode in her life.

The last days of the war from April 29, 1945 and the historical private experiences of the 43-year-old woman at that time are described in detail :

During a visit to the cinema , Ms. Brücker met the boatswain Hermann Bremer, looked for shelter with him in an air raid shelter and, after the all-clear, took him home with her, where he stayed as a deserter . She is married and has two children, 16 and 20 years old. He is married and has a newborn child. He does not tell her these facts, however, which she will later use again and again as an excuse for not having concealed the end of the war from him. Bremer is hiding in Lena Brücker's apartment. In the evenings and at night they devote themselves to love. Although Bremer can see the invasion of the English from the window, he creates a dream world in which the English pull together with the Germans against the Russians. Lena Brücker only has to contribute a few “white lies” to Bremer's construct.

When Lena Brücker then sees pictures of the mass murder of the Jews in the newspaper and Bremer tells them something changed, she can't hold back. She yells at Bremer and tells him that the war is lost. Bremer left later.

After the war, Lena Brücker has to find a new way to survive, and in the course of her efforts and as a result of numerous entanglements and coincidences, she will eventually invent the currywurst . The experiences with Bremer marked the end of her opportunities for love, and her snack bar became the basis for her future livelihood, the currywurst her trademark. When the narrator wants to visit Ms. Briicker for the last time, he learns that she has passed away.

The knitting motif is of great symbolic value: the protagonist Lena Brücker makes a blue sweater during the narration, the color of which stands for her bond with Bremer. As the story progresses, the reader learns that, for nostalgic reasons, she is trying to embroider her former lover's blue uniform. With the completion of the pullover, the shared story of Bremer and Lena Brücker ends - as does the framework of the work.

In the novella, the major political events are connected with the private motives of the protagonists . The woman, who became independent during the war, initially takes her returning husband back into the community, but soon throws him out and continues to get through life with her children, but without a husband. It is described that the post-war period did not necessarily have to be a reconstruction, but that new social structures also emerged. Whether the currywurst was actually discovered as described is rather irrelevant.

Reviews

“The song of praise for an unspectacular woman's life [...] The author knows how to illuminate the web of human relationships. Sensuality, serenity, bitterness and sadness are so interwoven in this story that it becomes a lasting reading experience. "

- Ursula Reinhold in New Germany

"A love story of contemporary parables"

- Walter Hinck in FAZ

"Cleverly told"

- Fritz Gesing in time

"[...] a brilliant story about good old home cooking!"

- Markus Haffner in Berliner Zeitung

"[...] a love story that is as grotesque as it is touching, fantastic and rooted in everyday life"

Edits

book

  • Uwe Timm: The discovery of the currywurst . Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-462-02461-2 . (First edition)
  • Uwe Timm: The discovery of the currywurst . dtv, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-08394-2 . (Paperback edition)

Comic

This novella is the basis of Isabel Kreitz 's 1996 comic : The Discovery of Currywurst . Carlsen, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-551-78183-3 .

Teaching material

There is an adaptation of the topic as a teaching aid for German lessons .

  • Uwe Timm, Ulrike Ladnar (editing); Helmut Flad (ed.): The discovery of the currywurst. Lesson models with templates . Cornelsen, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-464-61547-8 .
  • Uwe Timm, Hans-Georg Schede (interpretation): The discovery of the currywurst. Interpretation aid German . Stark, Freising 2008/2009, ISBN 978-3-89449-709-5 .

Audio book

The novella was published by " Der Hörverlag " on 5 MC as an audio book read by the author, Stuttgart 1996.

Uwe Timm: The discovery of the currywurst . Novelle, read by Uwe Friedrichsen , five audio CDs. Litraton, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 978-3-89469-732-7 .

Stage version

On September 26, 1998, the stage version of the same name by Johannes Kaetzler and Gerhard Seidel was premiered at the Freie Werkstatt Theater in Cologne. Claudia Mischke played the main role of Lena Brücker. The play is published by the theater publisher Whale Songs , Hamburg.

Movie

In 2008, a film adaptation of the novella with Barbara Sukowa in the lead role as Lena Brücker and Alexander Khuon as Hermann Bremer was published under the direction of Ulla Wagner .

The focus of the film is on the relationship with the deserter from Bremer. In addition, the discovery of the currywurst is discussed. The storyline from the book is missing.

Secondary literature

  • Eva-Maria Scholz: Uwe Timm. The discovery of the currywurst. Reading key XL , Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-15-015474-8 .
  • Tanja Bierau: Uwe Timms Currywurst: Analysis and interpretation for school and university . Bachelor + Master Publishing, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86341-333-0 (at the same time state examination thesis at the study seminar for elementary, secondary, secondary and special schools, Giessen 2012).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Carlsen Graphic Novel: The Discovery of Currywurst