„The City Breathes History“ – Barbara Krohn, a Hamburg Native in Regensburg
Barbara Krohn, an author best known for her crime novels, was born in the northernmost part of Germany and has lived for many years in Regensburg, Bavaria.
Frau Krohn, one of your novels is titled Von der Lust, fremd zu sein (i.e. the pleasure of being foreign). You have lived and worked in Regensburg for about 15 years now. Have you come to feel at home in Germany’s deep south as a native of Hamburg?Quite the contrary. In fact I feel rather like a stranger (but not out of place), and the longer I live here the stronger the feeling of being a stranger. In the beginning I felt a great deal of curiosity, the joy of discovery, and then came a phase of becoming acquainted with the city. Meanwhile I have come to feel the differences and foreignness very strongly. The theme of “homeland” is currently being rediscovered and has to do with being rooted, roots. I have aerial roots, if any at all; in a case like mine writing is the only homeland there is. Apart from al that, I am a „northern light” and love large cities, harbors, the ocean. But in Regensburg I have discovered my gardening side and have greatly enjoyed learning various forms of the Zwiefacher.
Do you mean tha folk dance where the couples whirl around together? Can you also sing the accompanying Bavarian texts?
The Zwiefach has nothing to do with couples whirling about, even if it is danced in pairs. The point here is the alternating twofold and threefold rhythm; every Zwiefacher is different. I am happy if I understand the texts at all, but enjoy scatting along.
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 Slide Show: Regensburg
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Your second crime novel, Weg vom Fenster (i.e. „out of the game“) that was published in 1999, takes place in Regensburg – in the alleys of the old city with its 1000 historic landmarks, and included in the World Cultural heritage. Does the historic part of town have something mysterious about it for you?
As a lover of big cities these palpable, visible old cities with their narrow, crooked alleyways in which one can get lost for a short time, have always fascinated me. Regensburg reminds one of Italy, too. The city breathes history, not just in its landmarks, churches and art treasures, but in everyday life as well. There is so much to discover here; that is and remains exciting, a kind of excitement that is different from that of a crime novel.
For your Commissioner Freya Jansen Regensburg counts as the “boonies.” What about you?
The city is the first major urban area on the way to Munich – seen from the Bavarian Forest, the Upper Palatinate. What one person sees as narrow is wide open for the other. But not everything that presents itself as being the wide open world is really such. Seen this way, I agree with Walter Höllerer when he says that “the boondocks” is just a set of possibilities. It depends what you make of them, always.
Commissioner Jansen, who also comes from the upper north of Germany, characterizes the city as „tightly interwoven.“ How does that feel for someone who is new in Regensburg?
In exact contrast to what one experiences in a major city, one feels it from the beginning: Regensburg’s interweaving is intensely active. Everyone knows everyone else, one way or another, via relatives, acquaintances, school years, dancing class, the university, or one’s job. This is fascinating, I was familiar with this phenomenon from my time in Hamburg only in connection with specific scenes. In Regensburg this phenomenon is present in all age groups and other interest groups as well, due also to the old part of town and the beer gardens. If one just looks around with open eyes one is immediately in the network and gets to know a great many people. That happens very fast in Regensburg.
The Regensburg residents who appear in your novel Weg vom Fenster (i.e. „out of the game“) are decidedly proud of their home town – one of them even praises Regensburg as „a city of superlatives.“ Which superlative seems to you as a non-native to be the most appropriate?
I haven’t a clue. I don’t like superlatives. What is lovely about Regensburg is the successful mixture of nature (three) rivers flowing into the Danube, the Regen, and the Naab river and the Altmühl – the Bavarian Forest is just around the corner, you are right in the middle of nature in ten minutes – just the ocean is far away – unfortunately…), the architecture (just the square towers built to commemorate patrician families, the archways), history (the Romans, the Middle Ages, the eternal Reichstag from 1663 –1806, one could mention so much), the culture of every day life (with its bars, cafés, art galleries, theaters, cinema, etc.). Sometimes one has the feeling that the clocks tick more slowly in this city. I do not mean this negatively, it has to do with human proportions.
What place would you most highly recommend to someone visiting the city for the first time?
Stadtamhof. That is the part of town over the Steinerne Brücke (i.e. „Stone Bridge“) that belonged to Bavaria in past times. A lot has been happening there in recent years. Go from Stadtamhof across the Danube heading towards Regensburg, and you will see the old city skyline along the river – a joy for your eyes. That might be the beginning of a love affair that need not become “homey”.
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Biography: Barbara Krohn was born in Hamburg in 1957. She studied German and Italian philology and worked as a DAAD editor in Naples for four years. She has lived in Regensburg since1992 with her husband and two children, and where she is active as a writer and literary translator. In 2002 she was awarded the Cultural Subsidy Award of the City of Regensburg. A partial list of her works follows: Rosas Rückkehr (i.e. „Rosa’s return“), crime novel, 2002 Die Liebe der anderen (i.e. „other people’s love“), narratives, 2003 Orte der Liebe (i.e. „places of love“) poems, 2004 Was im Dunkeln bleibt (i.e. „what remains in the dark“) crime novel, 2007 |
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Regensburg’s Superlatives:
Bavaria’s fourth-largest city (151.000 inhabitants) is located on the northernmost angle of the Danube. Here is Germany’s oldest stone bridge – built between 1135 and 1146. Regensburg’s old city with over 1000 historic landmarks was included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage in 2006 and is the largest medieval urban area north of the Alps. Regensburg bears the proud title, “Italy’s Northernmost City.” The Thurn und Taxis palace with its 500 rooms is the largest in Germany. The Regensburger Domspatzen (i.e. „the Regensburg sparrows“) are one of the world’s most well-known and beloved choirs. The city’s most prominent honorary citizen is Pope Benedict XVI., who taught at the University of Regensburg in the past. And finally Regensburg’s „Wurstkuchl“ is the world’s oldest sausage diner. |
Translation: Ani Jinpa Lhamo
Copyright: Goethe-Institut, Online-Redaktion
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July 2007
