Cherrypicker | Literature  The Kaiser must die!

In the summer of 1914, four people meet in Berlin who couldn’t be more different but have one thing in common: They cherish liberty and despise colonialism.

It’s a word from bygone days: Kolonialwarenladen, a shop specialising in imported goods. Max Annas brings it back from obscurity in his latest book Berlin, Siegesallee. People rarely remember that Germany, too, had colonies in Africa and Asia, albeit fewer than seafaring nations like the Netherlands and Spain.

Max Annas reminds us of this inglorious time in our past in his historical thriller. German South West Africa (now Namibia), Cameroon, and German East Africa (now Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda) are the colonies that the author incorporates into his novel. Having lived and worked in South Africa, Annas has written about the continent before in his African Crime Reads Series, thrillers that address social conditions in South Africa.

Everyday racism in the previous century

In 1914 in the German Empire, shortly before the First World War, three Black men meet in Steglitz when the neighbourhood was not yet part of Berlin. One of them is Friedrich Smith, the son of a Black American and a German woman who was born in the German Empire. His father worked as a servant for a US diplomat in the Berlin hotel where Friedrich’s mother was employed. Then there is Ayang, the son of a murdered Cameroon colonial official, who wants to study theology in Berlin. And finally Ernst, whose real name is Nashilongweshipwe, who was brought from German South West Africa by his employer – a painter who wants to please the Kaiser. As if this combination wasn’t odd enough, the novel’s characters also include the factory owner’s daughter Florentine vom Baum, who emulates English suffragettes and stands up for women’s freedom. An arranged marriage? Not with her!  

The three men stand out everywhere they go on the streets. Sometimes they’re chased off public transport, sometimes not. The fact that the three are something special in Berlin at that time is emphasised by their visit, with Florentine, to an absurd ethnological exposition, another oddity that Max Annas reminds us of. The era of grotesque and scandalous ethnological expositions did not end until 1952 at the Berlin Zoo with a presentation of people from Lapland.

Murder without news coverage

The four come together because they have one thing in common: a deep hatred of the crimes committed during colonialism and the genocide of the Herero and Nama people in German South West Africa. Out of revenge, the four allies kill soldiers who have either been in the colonies or are on their way there and are conspicuous for their racist remarks. When public attention to the murders fails to materialise, they decide to do the almost unbelievable: They swear that the Kaiser is next and plan an assassination attempt.

With its vivid view of Wilhelmine society, the book is instructive but not preachy. The journalist and novelist Max Annas incorporates letters written in the 1940s by Joseph Ayang from Douala, Cameroon, to Theodor vom Baum, Florentine’s brother, into the novel. The language of these letters in particular is adapted to the era; often so old-fashioned that readers feel transported to the historical backdrop. The novel is not as exciting as the plot “planned assassination attempt on the Kaiser” might suggest, but it is nevertheless captivating.

Crime novel with the crime left unsolved

This book is not about solving the crime or finding the perpetrators. Instead, the focus is on the actions of the foursome. The investigating lieutenant, August Peterhardt, is described as rather incompetent and remains a vague figure. However, all of Max Anna’s characters are convincing and together fascinatingly reflect parts of society at that time.  
 

June 2024