Right now I'm reading Andreas Schäfer's Das Gartenzimmer (The Garden Room). It's a wonderful book whose protagonist is a house in Berlin's Grunewald forest. It mirrors an entire century. It has multiple time levels, ranging from the beginning of the 20th century to the 2010s, and they‘re masterfully intertwined. Central themes of the book are architecture, politics, and the human relationships that develop within and from the house.

I'm friends with the author and have a wonderful memory of the book premiere in Berlin in the garden of the Haus am Waldsee on a balmy late summer evening. It was the first cultural event I attended after the first Covid lockdown. It gave me hope that there would be a time after the pandemic.

Titus Engel, 26 May 2021
Conductor D • I • E