Thursday, April 23, 2026, 6:00 p.m., Waren (Müritz) City Library
On the occasion of this year's World Book and Copyright Day, the Waren (Müritz) City Library cordially invites all interested parties to the "Waren Library Night" on April 23, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. for a novel reading with Waren-based author Jens-Uwe Berndt and musical accompaniment by Ola van Sander.
About the book:
Three 19-year-olds set off on a hitchhiking tour through the GDR in the summer of 1984. Without a tent, without a destination and without a time limit, they drift from north to south through the small country and experience it with all its facets, contradictions, restrictions and freedoms. They travel with anyone who stops, no matter which direction. During these weeks, they meet punks, FRG vacationers, refugees from the republic, NVA soldiers, Christians, blues freaks, homosexuals and anarchists. They experience parties, police operations, violence, binge drinking, spend the night in guest houses, health resorts, campsites, somewhere in nature, they argue, fuck, steal, discuss and celebrate.
"Reise durch (k)ein Land" is based on diary entries and relentlessly describes everyday life at the time.
For this very reason, it is not a book that uses the clichés of typical memoir literature. From the many random encounters of the three protagonists with people who had settled in the GDR, who rebelled, who went along with the flow or who felt perfectly comfortable, a comprehensive picture of a reality between dreariness and total madness emerges.
The author is accompanied by Ola van Sander, frontman of "Bad Penny", who mainly sings well-known songs from the GDR pop and rock repertoire on guitar.
