If you’re interested in rediscovering pieces of Berlin’s past, or if you’d like to experience the city through the pages of books—carrying a piece of Berlin with you even when you leave, to cherish whenever you find yourself missing it back home—then this article is for you.
Berlin, with its multifaceted and dynamic nature, has inspired a variety of narratives that offer readers a journey through the city’s cultural and temporal depths. Below, I’ve gathered some book recommendations about Berlin: books set in Berlin, that talk about Berlin, and that explore life in the city from various perspectives.
– The Passenger: Berlin
The Passenger: Berlin is one of the books in The Passengers series, published by Iperborea and Europa Editions, which, if you haven’t yet discovered, I strongly recommend checking out. This series is a kind of travel guide, but far from the usual guides that simply point out the best places to eat or suggest set itineraries. Instead, The Passengers guides blend investigative pieces, newspaper articles, narratives, and reflections on a wide range of topics about the places they portray.
The Berlin guide combines photography, art, and reportage that intersect within the city. As Karl Scheffler once said, “Berlin is a place doomed to always become, never be”, and this book captures that spirit. Within its pages, you’ll find pieces tracing Berlin’s history from the 1990s onward—the roots of contemporary Berlin and the foundations of what we see today in a city still in flux, a place brimming with potential.
The Passenger: Berlin – AA.VV.
– Friederichstraße 19, Emma Harding
Set around number 19 Friedrichstraße, this story brings together a diverse cast of characters: a cabaret singer, a young Jewish woman, a porn photographer, an orphan taken in by his uncle, a newly divorced woman, and a terrorist. Their intertwined relationships, encounters, and conflicts weave a portrait of a city teeming with varied stories, contrasting experiences, and shadowed depths.
Friedrichstrasse 19 – Emma Harding
– Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Döblin
Franz Biberkopf is back on the streets of Berlin, aiming for a fresh start after prison. But fate seems determined to pull him down, dragging him through a world, thugs, and outcasts. Enduring one setback after another, Franz struggles to stay on his feet until a final, devastating blow threatens to break him for good.
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a vivid portrayal of Berlin’s life and pulse, capturing its gritty streets, lively pubs, and chaotic rhythm in a mix of news reports, street slang, and Biblical references. First published in 1929, Alfred Döblin’s masterpiece immortalizes the soul of the city.
Berlin Alexanderplatz: Alfred Döblin, Michael Hofmann: 9780141191621: Amazon.com: Book
– Goodbye to Berlin, Christopher Isherwood
Set in Germany during the Weimar Republic, this book is partly autobiographical and examines some of the groups most vulnerable to intimidation, persecution, and violence from Adolf Hitler’s early Nazi followers, portraying their stories and struggles.
Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood
– Effingers, Gabriel Tergit
If you’re in the mood to dive into a sweeping family saga that spans nearly a century, don’t miss the story of the Effinger family. Their journey moves from Bismarck’s Germany to the Second World War, tracing the gradual unraveling of bourgeois ideals through historical events, political upheavals, love, relationships, and hardships.
Effingers: Roman – Gabriele Tergit
