Reading & Discussion | Moderator: Susan Schulz (Heinrich Böll Foundation, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
Paula Fürstenberg is furious. Like all children of the post-Reunification era, she was promised flourishing landscapes and anti-fascism amid the euphoria of reunification. The reality: unemployment, out-migration, and right-wing violence. And today: a far-right party—partially protected by the state—that is only too happy to embrace the patriotic and nationalist idea of internal unity. But that wasn’t what was meant by “Germany, our united fatherland”—or was it?
On October 3, 1990, amid all the black, red, and gold, numerous Reich flags are also visible. While people at the Brandenburg Gate shed tears of joy, over a thousand neo-Nazis are brawling their way through the newly unified country. Born in Potsdam in 1987, Paula Fürstenberg grew up during the “baseball bat years.” Drawing on her own life story, she explores the gaps in our narrative of German reunification, which is still celebrated today as a defining moment of democracy—but which can also be seen as the birth of a new nationalism. In her incisive, sometimes boisterous, sometimes tender interjections, she comes to the conclusion: We don’t have to grow together into a single people at all. We’ll discuss what alternatives might exist instead this evening.
Paula Fürstenberg studied at the Swiss Institute of Literature and at Humboldt University. Her debut novel, *Familie der geflügelten Tiger*, was published in 2016, and her second novel, *Weltalltage*, in 2024. In addition to her work as a writer, she is active as a curator, teacher, editor, and member of various artistic collectives, and tours with the literary girl band No Scribes. Fürstenberg lives in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Advance tickets: 8 € plus fee at the Press Center or at mvticket.de; at the door: 10 €
Reduced rate for students, members of Literaturhaus Rostock e.V., and people with severe disabilities; holders of a volunteer ID card: 5 € (Registration at: reservierung@literaturhaus-rostock.de)
Students at the University of Rostock/hmt Rostock: free admission with the AStA Kulturticket. Registration: reservierung@literaturhaus-rostock.de
Location: Literaturhaus Rostock (in the Peter-Weiss-Haus), Doberaner Str. 21, 18057 Rostock
A joint event organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation MV, the Rostock Documentation and Memorial Center/LpB MV, and the Literaturhaus Rostock as part of the accompanying program for the exhibition *The Party Is Always Right*
