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1800s: A tour of the mysterious city of Wandernburg..
1800s: A tour of the mysterious city of Wandernburg..
In post-Napoleonic Germany, a traveller on his way to Dessau stops off for a night in the mysterious city of Wandernburg. He intends to move on the following day, but the town begins to ensnare him with its strange, shifting geography. After befriending an old organ grinder and falling for the daughter of a local merchant, he soon finds it impossible to leave.
A novel of philosophy and love, politics and waltzes, history and the here-and-now
A (fictional) town lodged between the ancient states of Saxony and Prussia. It’s name is symbolic as it refers to the verb “ wandern” —meaning to roam, or wander.
Hans stays here in an inn on his way to Dessau to find work. Wandernburg proves to be an enchanting, if anachronistic, city where the families who live there have lived there for years and the only other kind of people who pass through are the travellers who like the lead character seem to stumble upon it by accident
Wandernburg has an almost hypnotic hold over those who live there. It might be surrounded by lush stretches of farmland and towering factories, but time seems to stand still here or at least work differently. Those who live here don’t really travel outside of their area.
As Hans says: “I may go there again but I could never go back. Going back is impossible.”
Destination: Germany Author/Guide: Andrés Neuman Departure Time: 1800s
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