''Rheinsberg: Ein Bilderbuch für Verliebte'' (''Rheinsberg: A picture book for lovers'') is a story (''Erzählung'') by

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

, with illustrations by

Kurt Szafranski Kurt Szafranski, in exile Safranski, (17 October 18901 March 1964) was a German-American draftsman, journalist and managing director. In Germany, he illustrated Kurt Tucholsky's ''Rheinsberg'' in 1912, and was managing director of the ''Berliner I ...

. Written in 1912, it was the journalist's first literary work. The plot is a weekend trip of a young unmarried pair of lovers from Berlin to Schloss Rheinsberg. The work, written in a light ironic style, was immediately successful. It was adapted to a film, an audio play, and audio books. It was translated in 2015 as ''Rheinsberg: A Storybook for Lovers''.

History

Tucholsky, a young journalist at the beginning of his career, wrote the book with autobiographical background in 1912, as his first literary work. It is based on a trip that the author took with , a student of medicine and later his wife, in 1911. The fresh style, unusual for the period, was described as "infused with a summer-like breeziness and playfully ironic undertones.

Plot

The short (story, literally:

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

) describes a trip of three days over a weekend of two young people who recently met, Claire and Wolfgang. They escape the city of Berlin where they live and work, for the rural

Rheinsberg Rheinsberg () is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on lake and the river Rhin, approximately 20 km north-east of Neuruppin and 75 km north-west of Berlin. History Fre ...

. They have to pretend to be married to get a room, and call themselves the Gambetta couple (''Ehepaar Gambetta''). They arrive by train, visit Schloss Rheinsberg, take a boat tour on the surrounding lakes, admire the unspoiled nature which is unusual for them, and stroll at night, seeing parts of a stage play through a window. The following day, they enjoy a late breakfast and explore the town and its shops, and visit a cinema. The last day is devoted to another boat tour, this time with Lissy Aachner, a medical student. After a final stroll through the park, they return home, to "the big city, ... grey days and longing telephone conversations, secretive afternoons, work and all the happiness of their great love" ("in die große Stadt, in der es wieder Mühen für sie gab, graue Tage und sehnsüchtige Telefongespräche, verschwiegene Nachmittage, Arbeit und das ganze Glück ihrer großen Liebe.")

Publication and marketing

''Rheinsberg'' was published, with several illustrations by

, in 1912 in Berlin by . It soon became a classic for young lovers. With Szafranski, the author opened a ''Bücherbar'' (book bar) on

Kurfürstendamm The Kurfürstendamm (; colloquially ''Ku'damm'', ; en, Prince Elector Embankment) is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former ''Kurfürsten'' (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. The broad, long boulevar ...

, where they sold cheap books and alcoholic beverages. Every purchaser of ''Rheinsberg'' received a free

schnaps Schnapps ( or ) or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to neu ...

. The bar soon closed, but the book became a bestseller.

Editions

* ''Rheinsberg: Ein Bilderbuch für Verliebte''. Illustrations by Kurt Szafranski. Axel Juncker Verlag, Berlin 1912. ** Paperback: Rowohlt, Reinbek 1976, . ** Recent: Anaconda, Cologne 2010, .

Adaptations

Film

The book was adapted for film and released in 1967 as ''

'', a West-German production directed by

Kurt Hoffmann Kurt Hoffmann (12 November 1910 – 25 June 2001) was a German film director, the son of Carl Hoffmann. He directed 48 films between 1938 and 1971. He ran a production company Independent Film along with Heinz Angermeyer. His 1958 film ''W ...

, with

Cornelia Froboess Cornelia Froboess (; born 28 October 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many West German and Austrian musical films, especially after the rock and roll wave had hit Germa ...

and Christian Wolff in the principal roles. Hans-Martin Majewski composed the soundtrack.

Audio play

''Rheinsberg'' was adapted as an audio play by Matthias Thalheim in 1985 for the broadcaster

Rundfunk der DDR Rundfunk der DDR (, 'GDR Broadcasting'; from about 1948 to 1972 Deutscher Demokratischer Rundfunk, 'German Democratic Broadcasting') was the collective designation for radio broadcasting organized by the State Broadcasting Committee in the Germa ...

. The

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

was , the music written by , with director , and

Kurt Böwe Kurt Böwe (28 April 1929 – 14 June 2000) was a German actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1962 to 2000. Selected filmography References External links * 1929 births 2000 deaths German male film actors {{Ge ...

as the narrator,

Ulrike Krumbiegel Ulrike Krumbiegel (born 16 December 1961) is a German actress. She has performed in more than 100 film and TV productions. In her early career, she performed in East German cinema and theatre. After the re-unification of Germany, her career cont ...

as Claire,

Gunter Schoß Gunter Schoß (born 2 December 1940 in Berlin, Germany) is a German voice and television actor. Among numerous other projects, he was the German voice of Donald Sutherland's character in ''Pride and Prejudice'' and of Frank Langella as Merneptah ...

as Wolfgang, as the Kastellan, and

Dagmar Manzel Dagmar Manzel (born 1 September 1958) is a German actress. She has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1979. She starred in the 1986 film ''So Many Dreams'', which was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festiva ...

as Lissy Aachner. It was first aired on 21 December 1985. The production was the entry for the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...

1987, translated by Katherine Vanovitch to English and by Elisabeth Radermacher to French. The production appeared in 2001 and 2012 as audio books on CD by ().

Audio books

Anna Thalbach Anna Maria Joachim genannt Thalbach (born 1 June 1973), known as Anna Maria Thalbach, is a German actress. Her mother, Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a Germa ...

, Argon Verlag, Berlin 2009, . * ,

Diogenes Verlag The Diogenes Verlag (short: Diogenes) is a Swiss publisher in Zurich, founded in 1952 by , with a focus on literature, plays and cartoons. It has been managed since 2012 by the founder's son, Philipp Keel. History Daniel Keel, who founded the ...

, Zürich 2006, . * Anna Thalbach, Argon Verlag, Berlin 2006, .

Translation

Cindy Opitz translated ''Rheinsberg'' in 2015 as ''Rheinsberg: A Storybook for Lovers'', published by Small PressUnited.