Time travel to Chemnitz in the post-war period
City library: Reading with Petra Pansch on 5 September, 6 p.m., TIETZ event hall
On Thursday, 5 September at 6 pm, author Petra Pansch will read from the third part of her biographical-historical novel "Charlottes Volkshaus" in the TIETZ event hall.
Admission costs 6 euros, concessions 4 euros. Ticket reservations can be made at Stadtbibliothek-Veranstaltungsbuchung.
The story of the novel, which is based on true events, is set around the Chemnitz Volkshaus in Zwickauer Straße. The main character is Charlotte, the grandmother of author Petra Pansch.
Volume 1 describes the simple life of Charlotte Arnold, who grew up at a time when Chemnitz was flourishing economically and is referred to as the Golden Twenties.
In volume 2, Charlotte moves into the Volkshaus as a happy bride and experiences the National Socialist era and the Second World War.
In volume 3, a historic moment takes place on 11 May 1945, right next to the Volkshaus, with white flags waving from the windows. A convoy of US Army vehicles meets soldiers from the 1st Ukrainian Reconnaissance Unit with tanks and heavy equipment. The war is over. But not quite. The first days, weeks and months of supposed peace do not feel like peace, but are characterised by hunger, deprivation and the continued struggle for survival.
The author describes in her own impressive way how Charlotte and her family manage to adapt to the new reality and how their lives continue.
Petra Pansch, a qualified journalist born in Chemnitz in 1952, worked first at the German Television Broadcasting Corporation in Berlin, then in the press office of the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt and later at the Sächsische Zeitung in Sebnitz until she left the country in 1984.
After leaving the GDR, she worked for the German Press Agency, in the press department of the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts and wrote for various local newspapers in Rhineland-Palatinate. She now lives on the edge of the northern Eifel region, where she wrote her autobiography and biographical novels about her family.