Reichskanzlerplatz

Reading and talk
Nora Bossong
Moderation: Torsten Hoffmann

In her new novel, Nora Bossong paints an intense portrait of the woman who became Magda Goebbels and her young lover. Through the characters and their relationships with each other, she demonstrates the gradual tipping of a democracy into fascism: When Hans meets the young and beautiful stepmother of his school friend Hellmut Quandt, it is not yet clear what role Magda will play in his life, either for him personally or years later as a fanatical National Socialist and model mother of the "Third Reich". The Weimar Republic is on the move and Hans is as fiercely and hopelessly in love with Hellmut. But after an accident, Hans and Magda begin an affair, which they hope will bring them comfort and benefits: she wants to break out of her marriage, he wants to hide his homosexuality. It was only when Magda met Joseph Goebbels and joined the NSDAP that Hans and Magda broke up. While Magda and her children soon appear in the newsreel, Hans finds himself increasingly in danger.
Nora Bossong, born in Bremen in 1982, writes poetry, novels and essays, for which she has received several awards, most recently the Joseph Breitbach Prize and the Thomas Mann Prize. Nora Bossong lives in Berlin.