Wolfgang Koeppen - The Hothouse
Felix Keetenheuve, a member of parliament for the new Federal Republic of Germany, is a pacifist and doesn’t tow the party line blindly. He fights in every way possible against Germany’s re-armament after the Second World War. After his wife’s funeral he realizes what a ‘hothouse’ atmosphere Bonn has, it seems to have lost all connection to reality. After he comes to finally admit to himself the failure of his efforts, he takes a last walk through what is now the former capital of Germany. The novel ends with the protagonist’s suicide. He takes his life by jumping from the bridge over the Rhine.
