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10.24.2023

The Protestant Work Ethic: Why Catholics are Lazy and Protestants Hardworking

In 1904/1905, Max Weber published his ground-breaking work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He put forward the thesis that the faith of a population is causally linked to the progress of a country. Today, his theses have long been long considered outdated. But why do they still seem so plausible?

10.24.2023

News from Nowhere: The Dream of a More Beautiful Life

A world without money, what could that look like? At the end of the 19th century, the English socialist William Morris invented such a world. His utopia doesn’t fully explain how such a society would function, but it is an invitation to dream.

8.15.2023

Rousseaus Self-Portrait: “I Feel All, but See Nothing”

Rousseau is rarely associated with modesty. He begins his "Confessions" often treated as the first modern autobiography, with the announcement that his work is unparalleled in history and that he himself is unique. However, it would be too easy to reduce this complex and complicated personality to its thoroughly self-confident tones.

8.14.2023

The Love Letters of Abaelard and Heloise: Love in the Times of the Crusades

For over 200 years, Paris tourists with a penchant for great love stories have visited the tomb of Abaelard and Heloise. The heartbreaking love letters between the theologian and his pupil are a unique document of the Middle Ages. They tell of a tragic love story - which, as so often, should be questioned.

8.14.2023

The Edda: Of Revenge, Honor, Murder and Courage

The world of fantasy literature would look very different today if it wasn’t for the medieval Eddas. After all, the two texts were major source of inspiration for J.R.R Tolkien and his successors. The ancient stories of the Eddas take us into the world of Norse mythology; tell of heroes and gods, of dwarves and giants.

8.14.2023

Satyricon: An Ancient Picaresque Novel

Grotesque, vulgar, obscene – but also learned, sensitive, subtle. There is no other ancient book as full of excesses as the Satyricon of Titus Petronius. The wealth of ideas, humor and linguistic diversity make this portrait of the mores of the Roman imperial era a pleasure to read!

8.14.2023

Stopfkuchen: More Than a Whodunit

The subtitle of Wilhelm Raabe's Stopfkuchen is " a sea- and murder story." But don't expect a shallow whodunit because of that. While the reader is still trying to sort out the complex time and space levels of events, he realizes that the novel has an even deeper level...

8.14.2023

Brigitta and Other Tales: Kitsch or Force of Nature?

Stifter polarized despite his romantic-sounding stories. His texts divided the readership. Thomas Mann criticized the old-fashioned, moralizing style, while Friedrich Nietzsche praised his work as a literary icon. What is it about Stifter's texts that some appreciate and others revile?

8.11.2023

Tevye the Dairyman: If I Were a Rich Man…

The Fiddler on the Roof is one of the most famous musicals of all time. It is based on Scholem Alejchem's novel Tewje, der Milchmann. The humorous stories about a Jewish dairyman, told with sensitivity and wit, made Alejchem one of the most important authors of Yiddish-language literature.

8.11.2023

The Life of Captain Alonso de Contreras: An Old School Swashbuckler

Who were these men with whom the Spanish built their Empire? What is the nature of someone who sails into the unknown, to capture gold and silver in the New World for the Spanish King? Anyone looking for an answer to this question will find it in the autobiography of Captain Alonso de Contreras.

8.11.2023

Erewhon: Somewhere Between Utopia and Dystopia

Welcome to Erewhon, a fascinating non-place between utopia and dystopia that is both a reflection and a parody of our society. In his satirical novel "Erewhon" from 1872, Samuel Butlers raises surprisingly topical questions about technology and humanity.

8.11.2023

Oblomov: The Superfluous Man

In 1881, Tsar Alexander II was assassinated, although he initiated comprehensive reforms. After all, no one in Russia any longer believed that the tsar and the nobility could bring about political improvement. They are discredited, and novels like Oblomov, published in 1859, have contributed to this.

8.11.2023

The Scarlet Letter: A is for...?

Personal freedom versus moral values: Since the beginning of English settlement in North America, this conflict has shaped the history of the United States, and continues to do so to this day. Nathaniel Hawthorne devoted his novel "The Scarlet Letter." to this contradiction in 1850.

8.11.2023

Tales from the Country of the Pointed Firs: New England Local Color

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) dedicates her short stories to her homeland, the New England coast. She lovingly captures the peculiarities of the region and its inhabitants, exploring the contrasting relationship between town and country, civilization and nature. Join her to the land of the pointed firs.

8.11.2023

Meistererzählungen by Kafka: Strange, Disturbing, Confusing – And Deeply Funny?

Manesse's collection contains, in addition to Kafka's world-famous novel fragments, a multitude of lesser-known tales that are equally fascinating and enigmatic. They have the potential to plunge the reader into deep philosophical crisis - or to merely inspire a cheerful smile.

8.11.2023

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None

“The most profound book of mankind”, this is how, in all modesty, Friedrich Nietzsche spoke of probably his most popular work, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. At that time, the wild child generated buzz among European intellectuals. What is the book actually about? Not an easy question...

8.11.2023

Radetzky March: Swan Song to the Habsburg Monarchy

With the end of First World War, the centuries-long Habsburg monarchy and the splendor of the old Austria also came to an end. It had been looming for some time. No one described this age before the abyss as sensitively and devotedly as Joseph Roth in his novel Radetzkymarsch.

8.11.2023

Master Tales by Arthur Schnitzler: Ordinary People With Ordinary Problems

In his stories, Arthur Schnitzler set a monument to "ordinary" people. The description of their everyday worries reveals to us: we are not that different from the people in Vienna around 1900.

8.11.2023

The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon: The Rise and Fall of a Swindler

Soldier, cardsharp, nobleman: with his description of the fictional career of Barry Lyndon, Thackery takes us on a tour across the social classes of the 18th century. His story of the rise and fall of the Irish upstart is a satirical masterpiece.

8.11.2023

Schloß Gripsholm: Who Still Loves Nowadays?

"Schloß Gripsholm" by Kurt Tucholsky is many things at once: a cheerful summer vacation, a love story told with a twinkle in the eye, a satire on man and his absurd actions and, last but not least, a persiflage of the author on himself. No wonder that many consider it Tuchosky's best work.