Going back home
Who is the criminal, who is the victim? A superbly written exploration of the former East Germany’s regime
Had he lost his faith, or had he lost his senses? More than thirty years ago, Father Benno Wuttke set himself alight above his church in the provincial town of Steinburg in Germany’s Saxony region. What led a priest to throw his soul at the mercy of his creator in such a spectacular fashion? Years later, in an interview, his former colleague reveals Wuttke’s story to a journalist in an effort to prove his own integrity. Now, he is himself suspected of having unofficially worked for the East German Ministry of State Security, and being complicit in Wuttke’s death. Krampitz’ disturbing and complex novel is a tale concerning a final, desperate act of political escape and the sense of rootlessness that pervades our times.
Going Back Home is a fictional story based on an actual event: the self-immolation of the Protestant priest Oskar Brüsewitz in the summer of 1976. Although the two clergymen may have a lot in common, Brüsewitz is part of history, while Wuttke is a fictional creation.
Karsten Krampitz was born in 1969 in East Berlin. His breakthrough as a writer
came in 2002 with his book Der Kaiser vom Knochenberg (The King of Bone
Mountain). A regular contributor to Berliner Zeitung and FAZ, this historian and
avowed non-believer is currently writing a thesis on the history of the church
in East Germany. He established a school for the disadvantaged and is also
founder of Berlin´s »Trinkerklappe«, an initiative to improve the lot of the city’s
homeless alcoholics.
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