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»DDR und Trauma« – Literarische Perspektiven auf eine historische Leerstelle
“GDR and Trauma” – Literary perspectives on a historical blank space
Event by: Brotfabrik Berlin
Location: Brotfabrik Berlin, Caligariplatz 1, Berlin - Bezirk Pankow
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About event
“GDR and Trauma” – Literary perspectives on a historical blank space. With Anne Rabe & Andrea Scrima
Even more than three decades after reunification, the long-term consequences of political and social trauma in the population of the new federal states are unmistakable. In recent years, however, both parts of the country have become closer and the differences are not only becoming smaller statistically.
That evening, Anne Rabe and Andrea Scrima will discuss the way in which they deal with the traumas of the GDR in their novels and read from their works. Both authors process social-historical approaches to the GDR in different ways in their literature. Upbringing, the family system and the intergenerational transmission of trauma in social memory play a major role. Daniel Schulz will moderate the event.
Anne Rabe is a writer. She writes plays, screenplays and essays. She has received numerous prizes and scholarships for her plays. She was part of the writing team for “Waiting for a Bus”. In her essays and articles, she deals with the history of violence in East Germany, subtle forms of sexual violence and the rise of right-wing extremists in Germany and Europe. Her acclaimed debut novel “The Possibility of Happiness” (Klett-Cotta) was published in spring 2023. The non-fiction book “The M-Word” was published in August 2025. Against the contempt for morality", also by Klett-Cotta.
Andrea Scrima, born in New York City, studied art in New York and Berlin, where she has lived as an author and visual artist since 1984. In 2018, the German translation of her novel “How many days” (A Lesser Day) was published by the Droschl literary publisher. “Kreislaufen” (Like Lips, Like Skins) followed in 2021, also by Droschl. She writes essays, among other things: for the FAZ, Schreibheft, Music & Literature, is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine StatORec and regularly publishes a column at Three Quarks Daily. She received a work grant and several research grants from the Berlin Senate and was Graz city clerk in 2023/24.
Daniel Schulz works as a reporter and writer. He has written the novel “We were like brothers” (Hanser, 2022) and the volume of reports “I don’t hear any sirens anymore. War and everyday life in Ukraine” (Siedler, 2023). In 2018 he received the Reporter Prize and in 2019 the Theodor Wolff Prize for his essay about growing up in East Germany in the 1990s. He was part of the 2019 team that received an award for research into the Hannibal network.
Admission: €8 / reduced €6
Even more than three decades after reunification, the long-term consequences of political and social trauma in the population of the new federal states are unmistakable. In recent years, however, both parts of the country have become closer and the differences are not only becoming smaller statistically.
That evening, Anne Rabe and Andrea Scrima will discuss the way in which they deal with the traumas of the GDR in their novels and read from their works. Both authors process social-historical approaches to the GDR in different ways in their literature. Upbringing, the family system and the intergenerational transmission of trauma in social memory play a major role. Daniel Schulz will moderate the event.
Anne Rabe is a writer. She writes plays, screenplays and essays. She has received numerous prizes and scholarships for her plays. She was part of the writing team for “Waiting for a Bus”. In her essays and articles, she deals with the history of violence in East Germany, subtle forms of sexual violence and the rise of right-wing extremists in Germany and Europe. Her acclaimed debut novel “The Possibility of Happiness” (Klett-Cotta) was published in spring 2023. The non-fiction book “The M-Word” was published in August 2025. Against the contempt for morality", also by Klett-Cotta.
Andrea Scrima, born in New York City, studied art in New York and Berlin, where she has lived as an author and visual artist since 1984. In 2018, the German translation of her novel “How many days” (A Lesser Day) was published by the Droschl literary publisher. “Kreislaufen” (Like Lips, Like Skins) followed in 2021, also by Droschl. She writes essays, among other things: for the FAZ, Schreibheft, Music & Literature, is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine StatORec and regularly publishes a column at Three Quarks Daily. She received a work grant and several research grants from the Berlin Senate and was Graz city clerk in 2023/24.
Daniel Schulz works as a reporter and writer. He has written the novel “We were like brothers” (Hanser, 2022) and the volume of reports “I don’t hear any sirens anymore. War and everyday life in Ukraine” (Siedler, 2023). In 2018 he received the Reporter Prize and in 2019 the Theodor Wolff Prize for his essay about growing up in East Germany in the 1990s. He was part of the 2019 team that received an award for research into the Hannibal network.
Admission: €8 / reduced €6