"Santa Claus - What Now?" By Hans Fallada

That the Christmas degenerates into orgy of consumption, is lamented for decades, and yet the meaninglessness proceeds unabated. The provision of wish lists at online retailers an absolute low point seems to be reached: The Gifted-be-wishers lists the items that he wants, and who is committed to giving, the object clicks on which he allows the Wünscher. Packaging and shipping: Done. Disappointment largely ruled out (otherwise: return form is enclosed). Participating feelings: none.

While the religious significance as a celebration of joy at the birth of Christ became more and more into the background, Christmas was but still seen as a “festival of peace and the family” and accepted in unbelieving circles and celebrated.

Now show even this socio-cultural consensus disintegration. Commercialization, trivialization, individualization, virtualization and historical amnesia gnaw at the substance.

That here apparently gained nothing, but rather elementary Human is lost, one may at the amazing effect seen unfold the stories of Christmas in the old days, was not so flat mistaken as lucky with owned and cultivated people still close personal relationships with each other, whether they wanted to or not.

such stories we read in the wonderful book “Santa Claus – what now?”, in which the Aufbau-Verlag has put together Christmas texts from various works of the major, if somewhat forgotten author Hans Fallada (1,893 to 1,947). It is autobiographical and fictional to childhood memories and letters, novel excerpts and short stories from the Berlin newspaper “Daily Rundschau,” which he (a handwritten wish) and 1946 wrote between 1,902th The inspiration for the title was his berühmtester novel ” Little Man – What Now ?” Hans Fallada: “Kleiner man what nun?” at Hans Fallada ( actually Rudolf Ditzen) went through difficult times, politically, economically and personally.

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At school he is an outsider. At eighteen, he dueled with a friend – both as suicide intended, but Fallada survived seriously injured and is temporarily admitted to a mental. Because he does not want to become a lawyer, he quarreled with his father, a judge. For military service he is disabled. He forfeited alcohol and morphine, spends two years in deprivation institutions and a criminal offense.

In 1928 he married Anna Issel ( “Suse”). After he had beaten badly paid odd jobs through the privations of the war years, inflation, mass unemployment and the global economic crisis, it patronized around 1930 the publisher Ernst Rowohlt and gives him work in his Berlin Verlag; an internationally acclaimed bestseller – will appear in 1932 “what now Little Man?”. Other novels and stories followed, until he is sent by the Nazis to the sidelines. 1944 marriage to Anna, who gave birth to four children, divorced. Still tormented by addiction, Fallada is added to the mental hospital of the Berlin Charité in 1946 and died there a year later of heart failure.

What have such a life, such times to do the Christmas holidays with our after the turn of the millennium ? You have to own exquisite to understand. You will find external similarities – and yet everything was different. Above all, the gesture was crucial, not the material value. In order to make children and adults eyes shine happy enough, a small decorated fir with a story.

What rituals and quirks in the middle-class family of the country judge Ditzen were maintained year after year, from the mysterious purchase of the tree over the long, tension-filled, pleasurable ceremony of bestowal (disappointment not ruled on too useful) to the feast with the family on holiday, we experienced as a kind of foil for what is to come in the input history “family traditions”.

feast , tree and gifts were indispensable even in the bitterest distress of the later years. In the (fictional) family Pech each child contributes something to the preparation. Son Peter has to get a sapling the job, climbs over the fence a nursery, “organize” to one on, and of course caught ( “Christmas of the unlucky ones”). In “The perfumed Tannenbaum”, an episode of “Little Man – What Now?”, The protagonist Pinneberg acquires a tiny sapling in a pot on it with son “Murkel” may be big later planted and. But it proves to be miserable “Blender”, which you have cut all the roots, and makes the young family are not otherwise unalloyed pleasure.

The strict father Ditzen stayed pedantic that no child preferred for each the same amount of money is spent. However, the iron principle of justice is more important to him than the actual needs of His children, and by radically provides compensation, he leads the giving of absurdity and only reaps incomprehension. Because that joy should have to do with money, phoned Ditzens children still surprise out …

That money gift-giving easier, however, goes without saying. But if none is there? (? Fallada) the young couple “guts” and “Itzenblitz” developed a sophisticated “system of individual funds: economic money, spending money, Mumms money, carbon funds, Neuanschaffungskasse, rent funds and Christmas cash” – lots of boxes and little boxes in which yet prevailed “most Ebbe “(” fifty mark and a merry Christmas “).

Nonetheless, the two begin in the summer to write down their wishes, because what would be worse than in the “chase” the Christmas season to buy superfluous ( “man gives himself probably something stupid, they had to do afterwards”)? “Wishes is free”, so they wear for warm slippers and a book is also a “four-tube radio apparatus” and a “bleu silk evening dress (very long)” one, knowing that they are this kind dreams for years must indulge …  from the many Christmas greetings to your loved ones we learn from the oppressive conditions in which people lived ( “feed ration cards”, “unit soap”, “fat and meatless soups”).

But they commented with irony and black humor; Lamentos and blame entirely absent; Instead, always swinging a more optimistic tone with ( “for me, life would again pay”); Thanks for the packages sent Christmas sounds just as honest as the wishes, the festival should be a happy. In fact, you can feel that the family is a haven of warmth, sincere affection, true compassion and mutual solidarity was the one enjoyed for Christmas and assured. Witness of that Fallada’s last letters to his mother and his divorced wife Suse, both full of sympathy and care.

This book does not revel in cheap nostalgia. Even the language is far from any sweetness. Fallada is considered a representative of the “new objectivity”; he observes from a distance logged sober, formulated unaffected, Argue illusions. The tone: humorous, melancholic, thoughtful, funny, warm, bubbly. His language is often brash ( “knorke”, “that was doomed almost from directly threatening because hard”, “created a bore because of Christmas bonus”) and sounds therefore very modern. That’s why we come to telling facts and ways of thinking from historical times very close. If the past we touch trigger melancholy perhaps here and there, it was not the artificially stimulated. We will then only be aware of what we have lost.