Else Ury Else Ury (1 November 1877 – 13 January 1943) was a German-Jewish novelist and children's book author. Her best-known character is the blonde doctor's daughter Annemarie Braun, whose life from childhood to old age is told in the ten volumes of t ...

's Nesthäkchen is a Berlin doctor's daughter, Annemarie Braun, a slim, golden blond, quintessential German girl. The ten book ''Nesthäkchen'' series follows Annemarie from infancy (''Nesthäkchen and Her Dolls'') to old age and grandchildren (''Nesthäkchen with White Hair''). Volume 5, ''Nesthäkchens Backfischzeit'', (first published 1919) describes Annemarie's teenage years.

Plot summary

This volume deals with Annemarie's youth during the period of economic and political turbulence following World War I, 1919–1922. Annemarie is almost 16 when the story begins, after the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed in a railroad car, in the Compiègne Forest near the town of Compiègne, that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their las ...

. She and her friends, Vera, Marlene, and Ilse, attend upper secondary school. When Annemarie feels wronged by their German teacher, she wants to set up a student council modeled on the

Soviet Republic A soviet republic (from ), also called council republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary ...

and argues with the director of the school. Her unruly behavior endangers her education, but she ultimately advances to her senior class. Her 16th birthday party is disturbed by a general power cut and the

economic blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

, which completely shuts down the electricity and telephone network. Annemarie visits her relatives on Arnsdorf Farm in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(in the post 1945 editions

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities). Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two ...

). On her hasty return journey due to the occupation of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

by Polish troops during the

Polish–Czechoslovak War The Czechoslovak-Polish War, widely known in Czech sources as the Seven-Day War () was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919. Czechoslovak forces invaded the Polish par ...

and first

Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...

, she gets stuck in the town of Sagan due to a railway strike. (In the post 1945 editions Anne Marie has to leave Arnsdorf because of an upcoming general strike, and her train is stalled for lack of coal in Nuremberg.) To earn money, she becomes a nanny for a doctor's family named Lange. The Langes soon realize that Annemarie is an educated girl from a good background, as she knows Latin, does not want to go on the street without a hat, is familiar with famous paintings and has a book by

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...

in her luggage. When Annemarie's identity is revealed, Dr. Lange turns out to be one of her father's

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

classmates, and the Langes treat her like a foster daughter until she leaves to return to Berlin. In winter 1919, there is a coal shortage and a violent wave of influenza. Annemarie tries to obtain coal for her family, but does not succeed. Finally, she gets sick. Ury skips over 1920–1921. The last chapter, "Examination Grades," concerns Annemarie's high school graduation in 1922. She and her friend Marlene have passed all written tests with A's and are exempted from the final oral examination.

Critical reception

"In the course of her various adventures—with the Langes, in town, with a tyrannical teacher at school—Annemarie displays the winning blend of headstrong emotions, fiery temper, playful disposition, and precocious love of literature that made her such a favorite with German readers in the early years of the 20th century. That combination surfaces especially in this volume when Annemarie organizes a student council to redress perceived wrongs—with her in charge, of course. This book was originally published in 1919, when German morale was shattered and the nation’s economy in tatters. The story clearly pitches Annemarie’s ebullience as an antidote to those ills, a psychological dynamism captured without fuss or archness by Lehrer. He smoothly handles the novel’s many social and literary allusions; his annotations remain unobtrusively helpful; and his translation of the text itself effectively conveys Ury’s affectionate, often tongue-in-cheek estimations of her own famous main character. The tale’s simple, hearty optimism reverberates not only in Lehrer’s translation, but also in the half-dozen charming period illustrations he reproduces. A heartwarming, old-fashioned Young Adult classic, set in the early 20th century, that also serves as a snapshot of a Germany in turmoil." Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Review of Nesthäkchen's Teenage Years
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesthakchen's Teenage Years Nesthäkchen series German children's novels Fictional German people 1919 German novels Child characters in literature Children's fiction books German bildungsromans 1919 children's books Novels set in Berlin Novels set in Germany Novels set in schools Novels set in the 1910s Novels set in the 1920s Children's books set in Berlin Children's books set in Germany Children's books set in schools Children's books set in the 1910s Children's books set in the 1920s