Ingo Schulze - New Lives

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326. This project was not realized until 2001—to international acclaim. Cf. Claritas: The Main Altar of the Cathedral of Siena after 1260: The Reconstruction, Lindenau-Museum (Altenburg, 2001).

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327. Female employees recently hired by T.

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328. Crossed out: “and complete authority.”

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329. The reference is to one-year contracts for weekly, fortnightly, or monthly placement of ads.

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330. This paragraph seems to suggest that these are T.’s own words, but he is in fact only repeating more of the baron’s speech.

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331. The meaning of this sentence remains inexplicable.

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332. Cf. the letter of Feb. 27, 1990. The “revolutionary orator” also appears in the letter to Johann Ziehlke dated Jan. 18, 1990, as the “loudmouth” at the meeting of the New Forum.

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333. T.’s expertise came from the fact that from age eleven to fourteen he trained for the Olympic rapid-fire pistol competition at the District Training Center in Dresden. Cf. the letter to N. H. of March 13, 1990.

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334. Consulted policemen declare it would have been impossible to “stuff” all the bullets into a matchbox.

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335. Georgi Dimitrov (1882–1949), leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party, after 1946 prime minister of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria. In 1933 he defended himself in a trial related to the burning of the Reichstag, with the result that he had to be released.

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336. The literary level of this story casts a telling light on T.’s literary ambitions.

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337. In Bavaria the “welcome money” was normally set at 140DM, rather than the usual 100DM.

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338. This scene remains inexplicable unless one recalls the farewell scene on the occasion of Vera’s departure. In his letter to N. H. of May 10, 1990, T. insinuated that there was some connection between V. T. and State Security. He had thought his mother was alluding to that.

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339. T.’s suspicions proved to be totally unfounded.

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340. Cf. the prose piece “Voting” in the appendix.

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341. This passage seems too carefully constructed, which makes it rather difficult to believe. Presumably a “tall tale.”

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342. The main tower of the Kremlin in Moscow, also called the “Savior Tower.”

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343. Foucault’s Pendulum (Munich, Vienna, 1989).

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344. The grocery stores in the GDR usually had handbaskets, but no shopping carts.

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345. Youth Consecration is a rite of initiation intended to mark the transition from youth to adulthood. It is a nonecclesiastical alternative to confirmation in the Protestant church or the sacrament of confirmation for Roman Catholics. Its origins lie in the ninteenth century. In the GDR it was officially promoted by a decree of the Soviet government in 1953. It is rather surprising that E. T. and his life partner observe this ritual without any pressure from the state, although such behavior is still quite common today in the eastern states of the Federal Republic.

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346. A similar statement can be found in T.’s letter to V. T. of Feb. 6, 1990: “The realization that for two hours I would now be freer than I had never been in my whole life robbed me of my will.”

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347. T. is in error here. Jim and Huck Finn were on the lookout for Cairo, Illinois, the town at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

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348. Reinhard Raffalt, Eine Reise nach Neapel e parlare italiano [A trip to Naples e parlare italiano] (Munich, 1957). During these weeks T. apparently first studied Italian — which, so it is said, he later spoke fluently — with the help of this old, if steadily reprinted, introduction to the language.

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349. The more common, and correct, spelling is: “pummeling.”

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350. Crossed out: “All that was left was exertion and agony. Every self-evident reality was erased, not to mention every joy or desire; utter trivialities demanded a decision, from whether to open the window to whether I needed to go to the john.”

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351. By way of refreshing the memory, his letter to Johann Ziehlke of May 14, 1990, ends with the statement: “I gave her [Vera] my winnings, and that was a great relief in the end.”

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352. The town of Nobitz, near Altenburg, was home to a large Soviet military air base.

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353. T. could easily have determined this himself, since he kept carbon copies of all his letters.

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354. Two years later V. T. would leave Altenburg almost penniless.

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355. Even if it does seem almost superfluous, it should be noted: this description and the lines that follow arose out of T.’s overheated fantasy. His literary daydreams lack any basis in reality whatever.

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356. Later all T. cared about was money.

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357. Only the carbon copy of the beginning of a letter bearing the same date has survived.

Dear Nicoletta,

When I write you I’m able to create a sense of your almost palpable presence, a little magic trick that you can’t forbid me. Am I repeating myself? Although I’m no tyro when it comes to writing letters, until now I’ve never really known what reality letters can possess. I’m only beginning to understand that now. There are also moments, however, in which I can no longer bear the distance, your silence, the uncertainty — can no longer bear my love for you.

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358. This episode is easily identifiable as a product of T.’s penchant for fabulation.

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359. By way of reminder: at several points T. himself calls his letters a confession.

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360. The last we heard about the pistol, T. had hidden it among the props at the theater.

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361. It remains a mystery why T. ever took this route, since he could have reached open country much more quickly in every other direction.

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362. Presumably the “Paditzer Bulwark.”

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363. According to folklore, crossroads enjoy a special regard among places that possess the greatest supernatural powers and are thus best suited for every sort of protection from or performance of black magic. The assumption that crossroads have a potent enchantment can be explained by the eerie sense of helplessness that overcomes a wanderer at a crossroads at night. “Forlorn and abandoned, he believes he has been delivered over to the powers of fate or spirits.” Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens [Pocket dictionary of German superstition] (Berlin, New York, 1987).

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364. One is reminded of some of the drawings and other graphic works of Gerhard Altenbourg.

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365. Whether T. did in fact dispose of the weapon is debatable. According to V. T. he kept a pistol hidden in his apartment.

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366. Since T. himself was in part responsible for this state of affairs, one can only note the dreadful amount of repression apparent in both his little speech and his written account of it.

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367. Since by this time one often had to wait ten years or longer for a new car, new registrations were often sold for several thousand marks.

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368. On July 8, 1990, the Federal Republic won the World Cup in Rome against Argentina, 1 to 0.