Mr. Lehmann

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Author Sven Regener

Mr. Lehmann is the title of the debut novel by Sven Regener , the founder and singer of the band Element of Crime . The book was published by Eichborn in 2001 and shortly thereafter was positively discussed in the Literary Quartet . The film of the same name followed in 2003.

The first chapter by Mr. Lehmann was published in 1997 in Salmoxisboten under the title Der Hund . According to Sven Regener, this text has existed since 1991, it was written on the occasion of a friend's 30th birthday.

The story of Mr. Lehmann is set in Berlin-Kreuzberg in the summer and autumn of 1989. The book is the beginning of a series to which the later published volumes Neue Vahr Süd , Der kleine Bruder and Wiener Straße belong, whose actions predate the events of the book Herr Lehmann , as well as the novel Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt , whose plot takes place after Mr. Lehmann .

content

The 29-year-old Frank Lehmann , who, to his displeasure, is always called “Herr Lehmann” by his friends, lives in Berlin-Kreuzberg and works there in a small pub called “Einfall”. The story of Mr. Lehmann and his friends deals with the attitude towards life of young adults in West Berlin in the autumn of 1989 shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall .

Chapters 1-7

On a Sunday morning, after a shift in the "incident", Mr. Lehmann makes his way home drunk. He meets a dog at Lausitzer Platz that blocks his way. Mr. Lehmann is afraid and is overwhelmed with the situation.

Here, as in numerous other parts of the novel, the reader has a direct share in Lehmann's thoughts. The situation comedy results from the difference between Mr. Lehmann's thinking and acting. The reader can understand the contradiction well through the subjective narrative perspective.

Mr. Lehmann resolves the conflict situation with the dog by making him drunk with whiskey. A police patrol threatens to prosecute him for cruelty to animals, but he refrains from doing so and is also bitten by the dog, as Mr. Lehmann notices as he leaves. In the end, Mr. Lehmann finds his way home.

In the morning the call from his mother woke him up. The parents living in Bremen now want to visit their son in Berlin for the first time. Hungover and not very enthusiastic about the upcoming event, especially since he had lied to his parents about being the manager of a restaurant, Mr. Lehmann goes to the “Markthalle” bar, where he meets his best friend Karl. In his bad mood he is annoyed by the "Sunday breakfasters" who keep all tables occupied. Out of spite, he demands a roast pork, which the new cook Katrin does not like given the early time. It involves Mr. Lehmann in a discussion that leads to seemingly philosophical topics such as “the meaning of life” or “time”. Mr. Lehmann falls in love with Katrin. He meets her twice briefly on the same day, in the afternoon in the Prinzenbad and in the evening again in "Einfall".

Chapters 8-20

While the first third of the book covers a day of narration, the plot of the following chapters extends over several weeks. The focus is on Lehmann's relationships with Katrin, his parents and his best friend Karl.

The narrative perspective remains focused on the protagonist . The author maintains a limited view of the realities of life in the milieu in Berlin-Kreuzberg without making any reference to the historical-political situation. The latter only happens when it is unavoidable. For example when Mr. Lehmann has to travel to East Berlin and is detained there by GDR customs officials. This only bothers him insofar as his personal freedom is restricted and the day does not go as planned. He is fixated on his environment, his friends and his surroundings. And he lives in the "walled in" West Berlin, so to speak on an isolated island.

On this “island of life” the three main aspects of the plot reach their respective climax when they are together with Katrin, with Mr. Lehmann's best friend Karl and when their parents visit Berlin. Karl gets into a life crisis over a planned art exhibition and suffers a nervous breakdown.

All three storylines lead more or less to a dead end. If Mr. Lehmann originally came here to realize himself and to lead an independent, fulfilled life, he now feels that he is reaching his limits on his "limited" island. Lehmann repeatedly doubts himself and those close to him. The relationship with Katrin is falling apart; it turns out that both have completely different expectations of the other.

The visit of his parents exposes his supposedly down-to-earth, solid life as a self-deception. With the breaking of his self-image it becomes clear to him that he would basically like to break out of his "island of life". In the end, he has to take his friend Karl to the hospital because of his acute psychological problems. Lehmann has to admit that he is no longer able to bear the great responsibility towards his friend.

So Mr. Lehmann basically finds himself alone in West Berlin at night. In his desperation, he gives himself up to the vanishing point that runs like a red thread through the whole novel - alcohol. He starts a drinking tour through Kreuzberg's pub world, wants to forget everything and, to top it all, has to accept that he will be thirty that night. However, Mr. Lehmann has absolutely no problem celebrating his birthday alone.

Enough

The story ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Mr. Lehmann takes part in it, partly interested, partly bored, and watches what is happening up close. Whether walls will fall for him in view of his life situation and whether he will accept the challenge of breaking out of his protected island remains an open question. The novel ends with Mr. Lehmann's following thought: “I'm going first [...]. The rest will come about somehow. "

Reviews

On August 17, 2001, the novel received a very positive review on the ZDF television program Das Literarisches Quartett . Hellmuth Karasek spoke of a “small miracle”, Marcel Reich-Ranicki confessed to having “laughed out loud” about the “highly respectable novel”. The book was also largely praised in the press.

“There is no doubt that this is a brilliant turning novel from a Western perspective, which is so convincing precisely because the events in the GDR only occur in trace elements in the consciousness of the main character, from whose perspective the story is told throughout - to represent Western disinterest, it seems , you couldn't have chosen a better milieu than Kreuzberg, a better novel hero than Lehmann. "

- Tilman Spreckelsen : Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“Lehmann drinks his way through the Kreuzberg pub community, and at some point someone sticks at the bar saying the wall is open. "Oh shit", Lehmann slurps, and his buddy echoes: "Oh shit." With this finding, which is as banal as it is worldly, the novel practically comes to a standstill, and that is genius. Because we still pretty much know what came after that, but what came before we forgot to some extent. Therefore, twelve years later, looking back is exciting again - and Sven Regener's gaze, as cheeky as it is fresh as it is inquiring, turns the journey through time into a pleasure that is sometimes diaphragmatic, sometimes melancholy, but always effortlessly insightful. "

- Jan Schulz-Ojala : Der Tagesspiegel

"'Herr Lehmann' is a friendly, light and skilfully unimportant book that does not lack originality and strength in detail."

- Thomas Steinfeld : Süddeutsche Zeitung

filming

Leander Haussmann filmed the novel, also titled Mr. Lehmann , in 2003 with former MTV presenter Christian Ulmen (as Herr Lehmann ) in his first leading role. Other roles include Detlev Buck as Lehmann's friend Karl , Katja Danowski as Katrin , Janek Rieke as "Kristall-Rainer", Uwe-Dag Berlin as Jürgen and Hartmut Lange as the pub owner Erwin .

radio play

In April 2008, Der Hörverlag published a radio play adaptation of the book, with Florian Lukas as Mr. Lehmann , Bjarne Mädel as Karl and Sonsee Neu as Katrin , among others .

Mr. Lehmann , Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-192-2

There is also an audio book version read by the author.

Graphic novel

In October 2014, Eichborn Verlag published a comic version of the book's content drawn by Tim Dinter .

Mr. Lehmann, Sven Regener, drawn by Tim Dinter , Eichborn Verlag, ISBN 978-3-8479-0581-3

play

In September 2008 the drama version by Mr. Lehmann was premiered in the theater of the city of Heidelberg . The version was created by the director Nina Gühlsdorff and the dramaturge Axel Preuß, Sven Regener provided a previously unpublished scene for the stage version.

Pre- and Sequels

In his second novel, Neue Vahr Süd , Regener describes Lehmann's life in Bremen in the early 1980s. A novel set immediately afterwards was published at the end of August 2008 under the title The Little Brother . With Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt , a novel was published in November 2014, the plot of which takes place five years after Mr. Lehmann . In contrast to the books mentioned above, this one is written from the perspective of Karl Schmidt, Frank Lehmann only appears in passing. In 2017 the novel Wiener Straße was published , which takes place in Berlin-Kreuzberg from November 1980 and in which Lehmann again plays a larger role. In contrast to the other novels in the series, Wiener Straße is written from different perspectives.

expenditure

Reviews

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The dog, Salmoxisbote 18
  2. ↑ Cf. Sven Regener, Joachim Feldmann and Frank Lingau (interview), “The Bundeswehr was the total shock”, in: Am Erker 30 (2007, no. 53), pp. 36–40, here p. 37. Cf. also Sven Regener, Daniel Bax (interview), "There is no Kreuzberg" , in: the daily newspaper 6596 (November 9, 2001), p. 25.
  3. ↑ Tilman Spreckelsen: Confused, sluggish and in love. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 11, 2001, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Jan Schulz-Ojala: At the wall, on the lookout. Der Tagesspiegel, August 6, 2001, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Thomas Steinfeld: But then, but then: Kreuzberg nights are long. Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 17, 2001, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Sven Regener: Wiener Straße at galiani.de (accessed on August 18, 2017).