Reading: ‘Brilliant Years – Women’s New Beginnings 1926–1933’

The focus is on Vicki Baum, Marieluise Fleißer, Mascha Kaléko, Irmgard Keun, Erika Mann, Ruth Landshoff and Gabriele Tergit.

In a captivating collage, Ahrem unravels the authors’ life stories and recounts their artistic development from 1926 until the ‘seizure of power’ in 1933, which brought their careers to an abrupt end.

The writers’ paths are traced chronologically and kaleidoscopically; these paths sometimes intersect and repeatedly cross.

All seven were part of the ‘New Women’ who took the public stage by storm in the 1920s – they caused theatre scandals, became bestselling authors and the ‘it girls’ of an entire generation. For Vicki Baum, as for the others, these were to be the most interesting and fruitful years of her life.

About the author:

Regine Ahrem, born in Munich, studied literature and theatre studies in Munich and Berlin. Until 2022, she worked as a radio drama editor at Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, where she produced numerous radio plays and podcast series. Regine Ahrem is also the author of over 30 radio plays of her own, each of which she has directed. She has received numerous awards for her work; amongst other honours, she was awarded the German Audiobook Prize in 2023. Since 2013, Regine Ahrem has been regularly producing live radio plays on various stages in Germany and Austria under the label ‘Hollywood on Air’, which she founded.

The evening will be hosted by Dr Evelyn Wöldicke, Director of the Liebermann Villa on Lake Wannsee

• The café will be open for you until the reading begins.