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Hotel Berlin 1943 (1944)

by Vicki Baum

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1122241,706 (3.83)17
"Vierundzwanzig Stunden in einem Luxus-Hotel in Berlin in den letzten Tagen des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Draussen fallen Bomben, drinnen haben die Nazigröe︣n ihr halboffizielles Quartier eingerichtet. Aber auch andere Menschen unterschiedlichster Herkunft finden Zuflucht im Hotel, darunter eine bekannte Schauspielerin namens Lisa Dorn, eine schillernde Figur, Freundin diverser Generäle. Sie entdeckt zufällig, dass sich in ihrem Zimmer der weithin gesuchte Student Martin Richter verbirgt, der kurz vor seiner geplanten Hinrichtung aus den Fängen der Gestapo fliehen konnte. Statt ihn zu verraten, versteckt sie ihn, und während draussen die Welt untergeht, verlieben sich die beiden ineinander" (Verlagstext). Vicki Baum schrieb diesen Roman 1943 in den USA als eine Art Fortsetzung ihres Erfolgsromans "Menschen im Hotel" (1929), da sie sich fragte, wie die Menschen sich in Nazi-Deutschland fühlten. Baum gehört zu einer der wenigen Schriftstellerinnen ihrer Zeit, die regelmäi︣g neu aufgelegt werden. Ihre Romane lassen sich auch heute noch sehr angenehm lesen… (more)
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Baum was Austrian and Jewish. In 1929 she had great success with the book Grand Hotel and left Germany for Hollywood. Her parents remained in Germany and died there during WWII.

Hotel Berlin has been taken over by the National Socialists, a "half-official branch of the Government," occupied by Hitler's elite, including army generals, foreign industrialists and high-ranking members of the SS. There is no shortage of food and wine, although the rest of the country is starving.

Baum tells the stories of the residents of the Hotel Berlin: the general who has taken leave from the front; the actress who is a favourite of Hitler; the British writer who makes propaganda broadcasts; an SS man; a diplomat and, most importantly, the student, Richter, who has escaped the Gestapo on the way to his execution and is hiding in the Hotel Berlin.

Baum described herself as a "first-rate second-rate writer." The writing in Hotel Berlin is heavy-handed, the characters have little depth and are driven by the requirements of the plot, but none of this matters. Baum is writing in 1943 about the Germany of 1943 and she knows what she's talking about. She predicts the attempted assassination of Hitler; she describes the motivations of the professional soldiers, the ruthless quelling of dissent, and living conditions in Germany. How can she have known?

Well worth a look. ( )
1 vote pamelad | Feb 11, 2012 |
Lesser known but undeservedly forgotten work by the author of Grand Hotel, the film of which iconically starred Greta Garbo as the ballerina who wanted to be alone.

Baum, an exile, sets this novel in a bomb-torn Berlin which is losing the war although many characters are still trying to deny this fact. The large cast includes an awkwardly situated English writer, who has been pressured to give broadcasts for the government, an ambitious and initially ignorant young actress, a weathered prostitute with a tragic history, and a middle-aged Jewish woman desperate to ease her husband's suffering. (And also features the scarred and embittered doctor from the earlier novel.) While Baum's omniscient style of narration might initially be jarring to those used to contemporary trends, Baum writes with a powerful sense of vision and Hotel Berlin is more perceptive and thought-provoking than many current 'good reads'. An author due for rediscovery?

Although unfortunately out of print at the moment, it is still possible to obtain second-hand copies of Hotel Berlin. Mine was printed in 1946, on paper that conformed to the rationing laws -- contributing to a physical sense of reading a link to the times Baum was writing about. ( )
1 vote 1Owlette | Sep 8, 2011 |
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"Vierundzwanzig Stunden in einem Luxus-Hotel in Berlin in den letzten Tagen des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Draussen fallen Bomben, drinnen haben die Nazigröe︣n ihr halboffizielles Quartier eingerichtet. Aber auch andere Menschen unterschiedlichster Herkunft finden Zuflucht im Hotel, darunter eine bekannte Schauspielerin namens Lisa Dorn, eine schillernde Figur, Freundin diverser Generäle. Sie entdeckt zufällig, dass sich in ihrem Zimmer der weithin gesuchte Student Martin Richter verbirgt, der kurz vor seiner geplanten Hinrichtung aus den Fängen der Gestapo fliehen konnte. Statt ihn zu verraten, versteckt sie ihn, und während draussen die Welt untergeht, verlieben sich die beiden ineinander" (Verlagstext). Vicki Baum schrieb diesen Roman 1943 in den USA als eine Art Fortsetzung ihres Erfolgsromans "Menschen im Hotel" (1929), da sie sich fragte, wie die Menschen sich in Nazi-Deutschland fühlten. Baum gehört zu einer der wenigen Schriftstellerinnen ihrer Zeit, die regelmäi︣g neu aufgelegt werden. Ihre Romane lassen sich auch heute noch sehr angenehm lesen

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