DOBLIN

ALFRED

Berlin
Alexanderplatz
The Storyof FranzBiberkopf

Translated
by EugeneJolas

With photographsfrom the film version

by RainerWerner Fassbinder

A FrederickUngarBook
. NEWYORK
CONTINUUM

lq 6,l txl a

Or.rcnupon a time there lived in Paradisetwo human

beings,Adam and Eve. They had beenput there by the
Lord, who had also createdthe beastsar-rdplants and
heavenand earth.And Paradisewas the wonderful garden of Eden. Flowersand treeswere growing there,anithe other.
malswereplayingabout,and noneoppressed
The sun roseand set,the moon did the same)there was
abidingjoy the whole day long in Paradise.
Thus let us start ofi merrily. We want to sing and
moveabout:with our little handsgoing clap,clap,clap,
our little feet going tap, tap, tap, moving to, moving fro,
roundabout,and awaywe go.
FranzBiberkopfEnters

B E RLI N

ffi
ffi

$
Tradeand Commerce

tu

Health Department

ffi
ffi
W
e

Underground
Construction

Art andCulture

Traf f ic

rffih
@

MunicipalSavings
Bank

GasWorks
FireDepartment

StreetCleaningandTransport

Finance
andTax Office
5r

Noticeof a schemeregardingthe building lot situate

Bri.ickeNo. ro.
An der Spandauer
The schernefor the permanentrestrictionof the build.
ing lot situatein the CommunalDistrictof Berlin Center
dueto the additiotrof an orttamentalrosetteto the street
wall of No. io An der SpandauerBriicke is herebypr,rblished,togetherwith a sketchplan, for pubiicinspection.
may file any obDuring this time all partiescotrcerned
jectionsto the scheme,
within the extentof their interests.
The municipalauthoritiesof the communaldistrictare
alsoauthorizedto statetheir objections,if any.Suchobjectionsshould be made in writing to the District Office
Center,Berlin C z, Klosterstrasse
68, Room 76, or be
madeorally beforethe Registrar.
r,vith
-I havegrantedto Herr Bottich,hunting lessee,
the consentof the Police President,authority, liable to
cancellation
at any time, for the shootingof wild rabbits
arrdother vermin in the areaof the Faule Seeparkon the
followingdaysin the year rgzS: Shootingmust ceasein
summer)from April rst to September3oth, by 7 p.-.,
in winter, frorn Octoberrst to March 3 rst, by 8 p. m. The
publicare herebynotified of this permit, and are warned
againstentering the said area during the shootingtime
fixed hereby. The Chief Burgomaster,Controller of
Flunting Licenses.
-Albert Pangel, master furrier, who may look back
uponan activityof almostthreeyearsashonoraryofficial,
has resignedhis honorary office becauseof age and removal from the district in question.During this long
52

period he wasuninterruptedlyactiveas presidentof the

charity commission,or rather as charity guardian.The
recognitionof his meritsin a
districtofficehasexpressed
noteof thanksto Mr. Pangel.
The RosenthalerPlatz is busily active.
Weather changing,more agreeable,a degreebelow
treezing.For Germany)a low-pressureregion is extending, which in its entirerangehasendedthe weatherprevailing up to now. The few pressurechangesnow going
on indicate a slow extensionof the low-pressurearea
towardsthe south,sothat the weatherwill remainunder
its influence.I)uring the day the temperaturewill probably be lower. Weatherforecastfor Berlin and surrounding country.
Car No. 68 runs acrossRosenthalerPlatz, Wittenau,
Nordbahnhof,Heilanstalt,Weddingplatz,StettinerStation, RosenthalerPLatz, Alexanderplatz, Straussberger
Platz, Frankfurter Allee Station, Lichtenberg, F{erzberge InsaneAsylum. The three Berlin transportcompanies-street-car,elevatedand underground,omnibus
-form a tariff-union.Fares for adults are zo pfennigs,
for schoolchildren
ro pfennigs,reducedfaresallowedfor
childrenup to the ageof r4, apprentices
and pupils,poor
students,war cripples)personsphysicallyunfit for walking ascertifiedby the districtcharityoffices.
Get to know
about the lines. I)uring the winter months the front
entranceshall not be openedfor passengers
enteringor
leaving,39 seatingcapacity,5918,to alight from the car,
53

warn the motormanin time, the motormanis forbidden

to conversewith passerlgers,
getting off or on while the
caris in motionmay lead to fatal accidents.
Irr the middle of the RosenthalerPlatz a man with two
jumps off from the 4r, an empty taxi
yellow packages
glidesjust past him, the copperlooks at him, a streetcar inspectorappears)cop and inspectorshake hands:
damnedlucky, that fellow with his packages.
Variousfruit brandiesat wholesaleprices,Dr. Bergell,
notary and attomey-at-law,Lukutate, the Indian rejuvenationtreatmentfor elephants,Fromms Akt, the best
rubbersponge)what'sthe useof so many rubbersponges,
anywayl
The lvide Brunnenstrasse
runs north from this square,
the A. E. G. runs along its left sidein front of the FIumboldthain.The A. E. G. is an immenseenterprise,
which
embraces,
accordingto the rg21 telephonedirectory:
Electric Light and Power Works, Central Administration, NW 4o, Friedrich-Karl-Ufer z*4.,Local Call and
Long DistanceCall Office,North 4488, General Management,Janitor,ElectricSecurities
Bank Inc., Division
for Lighting Fixtures, Division for Russia,Oberspree
Nletal l)ivision, Treptow Apparatus Plant, BrunnenstrassePlant, FlenningsdorfPlant, Plant for Llsulators,
Rheinstrasse
Plar-rt,OberspreeCable Works, Wilhelminenhofstrasse
Plant, Rummelsburger Chaussee,TurbirrePlant N\,V 87, Fluttenstrasse
r z-r6.
The Invalidenstrasse
trails off to the left. It goes
towardsthe StettinStationwherethe trainsfrom the Baltic Seaarrive: Why, you're all coveredwith soot-yes,

5+

thereis a lot of dust here.-Flow do you do? So long.Has the gentlemananything to carry' Jo pfennigs.Your vacationcertainlydid you a lot of good.-Oh, that
tan will come off soon.-Wonder where peopleget all
the money from to travel around like that.-In a little
hotel over therein that dark streettwo loversshotthemselves early yesterdaymorning, a waiter from Dresden
and amarriedwoman,both of whom, however,hadregistered under false names.
From the souththe RosenthalerStrasseruns into the
square.Acrossthe way Aschingerprovidesfood as well
as beer to drink, music,and wholesalebakery.Fish are
nutritious, some are happy when they have fish, and
othersare unableto eatit, eatmore fish,the healthyslenderizing dish. Ladies stockings,genuineartificial silk,
here you havea fountainpen with a rp-cvratgold point.
On the ElsasserStrassethey havefencedin the whole
streetleaving only a narrow gangway.A power engine
Building Conpuffsbehindthe billboards.Becker-F'iebig,
tractor Inc., Berlin W 38. There is a constantdin, dump
cartsare lined up asfar asthe corner,on whichstandsthe
Commercialand SavingsBank, DepositBranchL, CusPayment of SavingsBank Deposits.
tody of Securities,
Five men, workmen,kneel in front of the bank driving
small stonesinto the ground.
Four personshavejust gottenon No. 4 at Lothringer
two elderly women)a plain man with a worried
Strasse,
look, and a boy with a capand ear-muffs.The two women
aretogether,they areFrau Pliick and Frau Hoppe.They
want to get an abdominalbandagefor lirau Hoppe, the
.\ .)

olderwoman)because
shehasa tendencyto navel hernia.
They have been to the truss-maker'sin the Brunnenr
strasse,
and now they both want to call by to fetch their
namedF{asehusbands
for lunch.The man is a coachman
briick,who is having a lot of troublewith an electriciron
and cheap.
which he bought for his bosssecond-hand
They had given him a defectiveone,the bosstried it for
a fel days,then it failed to work properly, so he is supposedto exchange
it, the peoplerefuseto do so, this is
the third time he hasgone there, today he hasbeentold
he hasto pay somethingon it. The boy, Max Rilst, will
later on becomea tinker, father of sevenmore Riists,he
will go to work for the firm of Hallis & Co., Plumbing
and Roofing,in Gri.inau.At the age of Jz he will win a
quarterof a prtze in the PrussianClassLottery, then he
will retire from businessand die during an adjustment
suitwhich he hasstartedagainstthe firm of Hallis & Co.,
at the age of 55. His obituarywill read as follows: On
Septemberz, suddenly,from heart-disease,
my beloved
husband,our dear father, son, brother, brother-in-law,
and uncle,Paul Ri.ist,in his JJth year. This annourlcementis madewith deepgrief on behalfof his sorrowing
family by Marie Riist. The notice of thanks after the
funeral will read as follows: Acknowledgment.Being
unableto acknowledgeindividually all tokens of sympathy in our bereavement,we hereby expressour profound gratitudeto all relatives,friends,as well as to the
tenantsof No. 4 Kleiststrasse
and to all our acquaintances.
Especiallydo we thank Flerr Deinen for his kind words
of sympathy.At presentthis Max Rtist is 14 yearsold,
56

to callby on hrs
hasjust finishedpublicschool,is supposed
the hard
waythereat the clinicfor the defectivein speech,
the inthe weak-minded,
of hearing,the weak-visioned,
corrigible,he hasbeenthereat frequentintervals,because
he stutters,but he is getting betternow.
Small caf6on RosenthalerPlatz.
In front they are playing billiards, in the back,in a
corner,two men sit puffingand smokingand drinkingtea.
One of them hasa flabby faceand gray hair, he is sitting
with his raglan on: "Well, shoot.But keep still, don't
fidgetaroundlike that.tt
"You won't get me to play billiardstoday.My hand's
shaky.tt

FIe chewsa dry Vienrtaroll, doesnot touchthe tea.

ttBut you needn't.We're all right here.t'
(tlt's alwaysthe sameold story. Now it's cometo a
head.t'
(tWhotscometo a headitt
The other man) youngr very blond, firm face,firm
figure: ((Me, too, of course;you thought maybeit was
only them? Now everything'sclearedup.t'
((In other words,youtvebeenlet out."
((I talked some real German with the boss,then he
startedto jump on me. That eveningI had my noticefor
the first.t'
ttlt's best never to talk German in certainsituations.
If you had talked French with the man, he wouldntt
haveunderstoodyou,and you'd still be there."
((I'm still there,what do you mean?Very muchthere!
57

A H a n d fu lo f Me n a ro u n dth e Alex
Ow rnp Alexanderplatzthey are tearingup the road-bed
for the subway.People walk on planks.The street-cars
through Miinzpassover the squareup Alexanderstrasse
to the RosenthalerTor. To the right and left arestrasse
streets.Flousefollows housealong the streets.They are
full of men and women from cellar to garret. On the
ground floor are shops.
Liquor shops,restaurants,fruit and vegetablestores,
paintingand
moving business,
g.o..ii.. and delicatessen,
decorating,manufactureof ladiestwearr four and mill
materials,automobilegaragerextinguishercomPany:The
superiorityof the small motor syringelies in its simple
easyservice,small weight,small size.-Gerconstruction,
man fellow-citizens,never has a people been deceived
more ignominiously,never has a nation been betrayed
and more unjustlythan the German
moreignominiously
people.Do you rememberhow Scheidemannpromised
us peace,liberty, and bread from the window of the
Reichstagon November 9' r9r8? And how has that
promise been keptl-Drainage equipment, windowcleaningcompany)sleepis medicine,Steiner'sParadise
Bed.-Book-shop,the library of the modertr man' our
collectedworksof leadingpoetsand thinkerscomposethe
library of the modernman. They erethe greatrepresentativesof the intellectuallife of Europe.-The Tenants'
r54

ProtectionLaw is a scrapof paper.Rentsincreasesteadily.

The professionalmiddle-class
is being put on the street
and strangled,the sheriffhasa rich harvest,We demand
publiccreditsup to r j)ooo marksfor the smalltradesman,
immediateprohibitionof all public auctionsin the case
of small tradesmen.-To face her hour of travail well
preparedis the desireand duty of every woman.Every
thought and feeling of the expectantmother revolves
aroundthe unborn.Thereforethe selectionof the right
drink for the mother-to-be
is of especial
importance.
Genuine Engelhardt Stout and Ale possess,
aboveall other
drinks, the qualitiesof palatability,nutritiousness,
digestibility, tonic vigor.-Provide for your child and
your family by,contractinga life insurancewith a Swiss
life insurancecompany,Life Annuities Office,Zilrich.Your heart is light! Your heart is light with joy, if you
possess
a home equippedwith the famousHofrner furniture. Everything you have dreamedof with regard to
pleasantcomfortis surpassed
by an undreamed-of
reality.
Although the yearsmay pass)it will alwayslook well and
its durability and practicalwear will makeyou enjoy it
continuously.The Private Protective Agencieswatch everything,
they walk aroundbuildingsand through buildings,they
look into buildings,control clocks,Automatic Alur^r,
Watch and SafeguardServicefor Greater Berlin and
environs,GermaniaProtectiveAgency,GreaterBerlin
ProtectiveAgency,and former Watch and Ward Division of the Caf6 Proprietors'Associationof the Society
of Berlin Flouse-Ownersand Landlords, Associated
r 55

Management,West Side Central WatchmentsService,

Watch and Protection ComPanY,Sherlock Company,
collectedworks on SherlockFIoImes by Conan Doyle,
Watch and ProtectionCompanyfor Berlin and adjacent
towns,catchit in time, Watch on the Rhine, wash on
the line, washing eliminated, Apollo Linen Renting
Agency,Adler's Wet-Wash Service,handlesall household and body linen, specialtyof fine gents' and ladies'
washing.
Above and in back of the shops,however,there are
dwellings,behindwhich there are courtyards,side-wings,
Linienstrasse,
out-housesr
garden-houses.
cross-buildings,
there is the housewhere Franz Biberkopf sneakedoff
after the troublewith Liiders.
with four brilliant
In front thereis a niceshoe-business
that is, when
six girls servethe customers,
show-windows,
there are anyrtheyreceivearoundBomarksper headand
nose,and at the most, after they becomegraYtthey get
belongsto an old rvoman,
roo. This nicebig shoe-business
lvho married her businessmanager)and sincethat time
sleepsin the back,and things are going badly for her' FIe
is a clashingman) has made the shop flourish,but he is
under forty and that'sthe trouble.When he comeshome
late,the oid ooo-"n is still awakeand unableto sleepfor
rage.-On the first floor, the gentlemanof the larv' Does
the wild rabbit in the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburgfall
The defenseconunder the headingof hunting-game?
tumaciouslydisputesthe finding of the District Court
that the wild rabbit in the Duchy of Saxe-Altenberg
may be numberedamong the game animals.The issue
r5b

concerningwhich animalsare subjectto the GameLaws

and which may be hunted without permit has beendecided differently in Germany in the variousprovinces.
In the absence
of specialrulings the law of customdecidesit. In the bill for the game-controllaw of Feb. 24,
'54, the wild rabbit had not yet beenmentioned.-At six
at night a charwomanbegins her work in the office,
sweeps,scrubsthe linoleum in the reception-room.
The
lawyer hasntt enough money tor a vacuum-cleaner,
the
stingy old thing, particularlyas he is not even married,
and F'rau Zieske,who rants about being the houselady
ought to know that. The charwomanscrubsand cleans
with might and main,sheis grotesquelythin, but supple,
she slavesfor her two children.The importanceof fats
for nutrition: fat coversthe bonepromontoriesand protectsthe underlying tissueagainstpressureand shocks,
highly emaciated
personscomplainthereforeof a pain in
the solewhile walking.But this is not the casewith this
charwoman.
At sevenotclockin the evening,Herr Lowenhund,
Attorney at Law, is seatedat his writing-desk,working
by two lighted table-lamps.It so happensthat the tele.
phoneis not busy.In the criminalcaseGrossA 8 78o-27,
I assumeauthorityto act on behalf of the accused,
Frau
Gross,under the circumstances.
I requestthat I may be
authorizedto enterinto personalcommunication
with the
said accused.-To F rau Eugenie Gross, Berlin. Dear
Frau Gross:It had beenmy intentionfor a long time to
pay you anothervisit. Pressureof work and my indisposition have,however,madethis impossible.
I haveevery
r a-

hopethat I may be able to visit you next Wednesdayand

I begyou until then,to be patient.Faithfully yours.Letters, money-orders
and parcel-postshould bear the personaladdressas well as the prisoner'snumber. As destinationgiveBerlin N.W. 52, Moabit r2a..
-To Flerr Tollmann. In your daughter'saffairrl feel
obligedto askfor an additionalfee,the sum of zoo marks,
I leaveyou the choiceof payn-rentby installments.Secondly: resubmit.-My dearAttorne/r as I desireto visit
my unfortunatedaughterin Moabit, but do not know to
whom to apply, I ask you to be so kind as to arrange
wher-r
I cango there.And alsoto arrangefor me to send
her a packageof foodstuffsevery fortnight. I await a reply by return mail, preferably at the end of this or the
beginningof next week.F'rauTollmann (mother of Eugenie Gross).-Lawyer Lowenhund gets up. With a
cigarin his n-routhhe looksthrough the curtainslit down
upon the lighted Linienstrasseand thinks, shall I telephoneher or notl Venerealdiseases,
a deservedmisfortune,SuperiorDistrict Court, Frankfurt r, C. 5. One may
think lessseverelyof the moral delinquencyof sexualintercourseon the part of unmarried men and yet admit
that in a legal sensean offenseis incurred,that extraconjugalsexualintercourse,
as Staubsays,is a dangerous
excess)
and that he who indulges in such excesses
must
bear their consequences.
And Plank, too, following this
decision,regardsa sickness
causedby extra-conjugalsexual intercourse
in the caseof a man liableto military service as a malady due to grossnegligence.-He takesoff
rs8

the receiver,Neukolln Office,please,ah, the numberis

changedto Birwald.
Secondstory: The managerand two stout couples,a
brother with his wife and a sisterwith her husband,also
,
a sickgirl.
Third story: A man 64yezrsold, a furniture-polisher
with a bald spot on his head.His daughter,a divorcee,
keepshousefor him. FIe crashesdown the stairsevery
morning,his heartis bad,he wiil soonhavehimselfput
corNyod'egeneratr'o
orr the sick-list(Coronarsclerosis,
dts). He was formerly a crackoarsman)what canhe do
now? Read papersin the evening,light his pipe, while
the daughter,of course)standsgossipingin the hallway.
His wife is not there,died at 45, shewasalert and hotblooded,couldneverget enough,you knowwhat I mean,
but saidnothing;
and so one day shewent all to pieces,
next yearsheprobablywould havehad her changeof life
anywey,off shegoesto one of them women)then to the
hospital,and that'sthe last of her.
Next-doora turner, aroundthirty, he hasa little boy,
a rooln) andakitchen;his wife, too, is dead,consumption,
he alsocoughs,the boy is in a dav-nurseryduring the day,
at night the man fetcheshim. When the boy hasgoneto
sleep,the man prepareshis weak tea, potterstill late at
night with his radio,is foremanin the radiounion,cannot fall asleepuntil his tinkering hassucceeded.
Then a waiter with a woman)room and kitchennicely
with glasspendants.The waiter
arranged,gas-chandelier
is at home all day till two, he sleepstill then, and plays
r 59

the zither, while lawyer Lciwenhundin a black gown

dashesaround the District Court r, 2, 3, through the
halls,from onelawyertsroom to another,from onecourt
to another,the caseis postponed,I pray for a judgment
for failure to appearagainstthe defendant.The ,,vaiter,s
girl-friend is supervisorin a departmentstore. So she
says.This waiter, during his married life, was disgracefully deceivedby his wife. But shewasalwaysableto console him until he finally walked out. FIe was nothing
more than a bed-fellow, always running back to the
woman,and was neverthelessfinally declaredthe guilty
party in the divorcetrial, because
he couldn,tprove anything and had shamefully desertedhis wife. Then he
got to know the presentone in Hoppegarten,where she
wasout man-hunting.The samebrand of woman as the
first,only a bit cleverer.FIe doesn'tnoticeanythingwhen
his girl-friend goesoff every few dayson a so-calledbusinesstrip, sincewhen does a supervisorhave to travel,
well, it's a confidential
post.But now he is sittingon the
sofa,with a wet towel on his head; he is crying and she
hasto wait on him. He slippedin the streetand couldn,t
get up. So he says.Somebodyhad pushedhim. She
doesn'tgo to her so-calledbusiness.If he noticedanything it would be too bad, he's certainly a nice, sweet
boob.We'll fix him up all right.
At the very top a tripe butcher,whereof coursetherets
a badsmell and alsothe howline of childrenand alcohol.
Next-door a baker's apprenticewith his wife, an employeein a printing-shop,she has inflammationof the
ovaries.\\ronder what those two get out of life? Well,
r6o

first of all, they get eachother,than last'sundaya vaudeville and a film, then this or that socialmeetinganda visit
to his parents.Nothing else?Well now, don't drop dead,
sir. Add to that niceweather,bad weather)countrypicnics,standingin front of the stovereatingbreakfastand
so on. And what more do you get, your captain,general,
jockey,whoeveryou arel Don't fool yourself.
Biberkopf in a Stupor. Franz sneaksoff, Franz
doesn' twan t to l ook at AnYthi ng
Fnanz Brernropr', watchout, howtsall this boozinggoing to end! Always lying aroundthe dump, doing nothing but drinking and mopingand moping!Whose businessis it what I'm doing? If I want to
mope,I'li mopein onespottill doomsday.He nibblesat
his nails,groans,moveshis head on the sweatypillow,
blowsthrough his nose:I'll lie like this till doomsday,if
I want to. If that womanwould only heatthe room a bit.
Shesure islazy, thinksaboutnothingbut herself.
F{e turns his headawuyfrom the wall, there'sa mushy
somethingon the foor, a puddle.-Puked.Must'a'been
me. The stuff a man carriesaround with him in his stomach. Phew! Spider websin the gray corner,they can't
catchany mice.I'd iike a drink of water.Whosebusiness
is thatl My spinehurts too. Just comein, F'rauSchmidt.
Betweenthe spider webs up above (black dress,long
teeth). Someslut that one (comesfrom the ceiling).
Phew! A fool saysto me, why do you stayat home?In
the first place,saysI, you fool, what right have,youto
IOI

Everythingis coveredwith planks.The. Berolini"-:

'outstatueoncestoodin front of Tietzts,one hand
Rencounteron the Alex, cold as the Devil. Next
Ye a r , 1 9 2 9 , i t 'l l b e co l d e rsti l l
Boonr,boom, the steampile-driver thumps in front of
Aschinger'son the Alex. It's one story high, and knocks
.Jltg railsinto the ground asif they were nothingagall.
Whoever
Icy air, February.Peoplewalk in overcoats.
hasa fur piecewearsit, whoever hasntt,doesnttwear it.
The women have on thin stockingsand are freezing, of
course,but they look nice.The bums have disappeared
with the cold. When it gets warmer, they'll stick their
nosesout again.In the meantimethey nip a doubleration
of brandy,but don't ask me what it's like, nobody would
want to swim in it, not evena corpse.
Boom, boom, the steam pile-driver battersaway on
t he Al e x .
A lot of peoplehave time to spareand watchthe piledriver whackingaway.Up on top there is a man who is
alwayspulling on a chain, then there is a puff on topr
and bang! the rod gets it in the neck.There they stand,
men and women, especiallyyoungsters,they love the
way it works, as if it were greased,bang! the rod gets
it in the neck.After that it grows small asthe tip of your
finger,but it gets anotherblow and itts welcomenow to
do whatever it pleases.Finally itts gone, Hell's bells,
they)vegivenit a nicedrubbing,the peoplewalk off satisfied.
zt6

stretched,a regular giantess,now they have draggedher

away. Maybe they'll melt her and make medals out
of her.
Peoplehurry over the ground like bees.They hustle
and bustlearoundhereday and night, by the hundreds.
The street<arsroll past with a screechand a scrunch,
yellow ones with trailers, away they go acrossthe
planked-overAlexanderplatz,it's dangerousto jump off.
The station is laid out on a brpad plan, Einbahnstrasse
to Konigstrassepast Wertheim)s. If you want to go
east,you have to passpoliceheadquartersand turn down
through Klosterstrasse.
The trains rumble from the railroad station towards JannowitzBriicke, the locomotive
puffs out a plume of steam,just now it is standingabove
the Prilat, Schlossbriuentrancea blockfurther down.
Across the street they are tearing down everything,
all the housesalong the city railroad, wonder where
they get the money from, the city of Berlin is rich, and
we pay the taxes.
They have torn down Loeser and Wolff with their
mosaicsign, zo yards further on they built it up again,
and theretsanother branch over there in front of the
station.Loeser and Wolff, Berlin-Elbing, A-r quality
for every taste, Brazil, Havana, Mexico, Little Comforter, Lilliput, Cigar No. 8, z5 pfennigseach,Winter
Ballad, packagecontainingzS at zo pfennigs,Cigarillos
No. ro, unselected,
Sumatrawrapper,a wonderfulvalue
at this price, in boxesof a hundred, ro pfennigs.!b_.at
2r 7

everythingr Yoll bpat .gYerything, h.-beats everything

with boxesof 5o and cardboardpackagesof ro; can be
mailed to every country on earth, Boyero z5 pfennigs,
this novelty haswon us many friends,I beateverything,
but I never beat a retreat.
Alongsidethe Prd.latthere is lots of room, there are
wagorlsstandingthere loaded with bananas.Give your
children bananas.The bananais the cleanestof fruits,
becauseit is protected from insects,worms as well as
bacilli, by its skin. We exceptsuch insects,worms, and
bacillias are able to penetratethe skin.Privy Councillor
Czerny emphaticallypointed out that even children in
their first years. I beat everything to pieces,you beat
everything to pieces,he beatseverything to pieces.
There is a lot of wind on the Alex, at the Tretz corner
there is a lousy draft. A wind that blows betweenthe
It makes
housesand through the buiiding excavations.
1,oufeel you would like to hide in the saloons,but rvho
can do that, it blows through your trousers pockets,
then you notice somethingtshappening, no monkey
business,
a man hasgot to be gay with this weather.Earlv
in the morning the workers cometramping along from
Reinickendorf,Neukdlln, Weissensee.
Cold or no cold,
lvind or no wind, we've gotta get the coffeepot, packup
the sandwiches,
wetve gotta work and slave,the drones
sit on top, they sleepin their feather-beds
and exploitus.
Aschingerhas a big caf6 and restaurant.Peoplewho
hat'e no belly, can get one therer'peoplewho have one
already,can make it as big as they please.You cannot
cheatNature! Whoever thinks he canimprovebreadand
zrB

pastry made from denatured white flour by the addition of artificial ingredients, deceiveshimself and the
consumer.Nature hasher laws of life and avengesevery
abuse.The degadent
stateof healthof almostall civilized
peoplestoday is causedby the useof denaturedand artificially refined food. F-inesausages
delivered to your
house,liverwurst and blood-puddingcheap.
The highly interestingMagazine, insteadof r mark,
now only zo pfennigs;Marrtaea,highly interestingand
spicy,only zo pfennigs.The newsboypuffshis cigarettes,
he hasa sailor'scapon, I beateverything.
From the east,Weissensee,
Litchtenberg,Friedrichshain, Frankfurter Ailee, the yellow street-cars
piunge
into the squarethroughI;andsberger
Line No. 65
Strasse.
comesfrom the Central Slaughter-Flouse,
the Grosse
tr{irrg,Weddingplatz,Luisenplatz;No. 76 from Hundekehle via Hubertusallee.At the cornerof Landsberger
Strassethey have sold out F'riedrichHah-n,formerly a
departmentstore,they have emptiedit and are gathering it to its forbears.The street-cars
and _E1rrr 9 stop on
the Turmstraste.fWhere Jiirgens stationily store was,
they have torn down the houseand put up a building
fenceinstead.An old man sitstherewith a medicalscale:
Try your weight, 5 pfennigs.Dear sistersand brethren,
you who swarm acrossthe Alex, give yourselvesthis
treat, look through the loophole next to the medical
scaleat this dump-heapwhere Ji.irgensonceflourished
and where Hahnts departmentstore still stands,emptied, evacuated,and eviscerated,with nothing but red
tatters hanging over the show-windows.A dump-heap
2r 9

lies beforeus. Dust thou art, to dust returnest.We have

built a splendid house, nobody comes in or goes out
any longer. Thus Rome, Babylon, Nineveh, Flannibal,
Crsar, all went to smash,oh, think of it! In the first
place, I must remark they are digging those cities up
again,as the illustrationsin last Sundaytsedition show,
and, in the secondplace,thosecitieshave fulfilled their
purpose,and we can now build new cities.Do you cry
aboutyour oid trouserswhen they are moldy and seedy?
No, you simpjy buy new ones,thus lives the world.
The policei'towerover the square.Severalspecimens
of them are standingabout. Each specimensendsa connoisseur'sglanceto both sides,and knowsthe trafficrules
by heart. It has putties around its legs, a rubber mace
hangs from its right side, it swings its arms horizontally
from west to east, and thus north and south, cannot advanceany farther, eastflows west, and west fows
east. Then the specimenswitchesabout automatically:
north flows south, south fows north. The copperhas a
well-definedwaist-line.As soonas he jerks around,there
is a rush acrossthe squarein the directionof K6nigstrasse
of about3o private individuals,someof them stopon the
trafficisland,onepart reachesthe other sideand continues
walking on the planks. The samenumber have started
east,they swim towards the others,the samething has
befallenthem, but there wasno mishap.
There are men, women, and children, the latter
mostly holding women's hands.To enumeratethem all
and to describetheir destiniesis hardly possible,and
only in a few caseswould this succeed.The wind scatters
220

chaff over all of them alike. The facesof the eastward

wanderersare in no way different from those of the
wanderersto the lvest,south, and north; moreoverthey
exchangetheir r6les, those who are now crossingthe
squaretowards Aschinger'smay be seenan hour later
in front of the empty Hahn DepartmentStore.Just as
those who come from Brunnenstrasse
on their way to
Jannowitz Brticke mingle with those coming from the
reversedirection.Yes, and many of thern turn off to the
side,from south to east,from southto west,from north
to west, from north to east.They have the sameequanimity aspassengers
The
in an omnibusor in street-cars.
latter ail sit in different postures,making the weight
of the car, as indicatedoutside,heavierstill. Who could
find out what is happeninginside them, a tremetrdous
chapter.And if anyonedid write it, to whoseadvantage
would it bel New booksl Even the old onesdon't sell,
and in the year'27 book-sales
ascomparedwith '26 have
declinedso and so much per cent.Taken simply as private individuals,the peoplewho paid zo pfennigs,leaving out thosepossessing
monthly ticketsand pupils'cards
-the latter only pay ro pfennigs-are riding with their
weight from a hundred to two hundred pounds,in their
clothes,with pockets,parcels,keys,hats,setsof artificiai
teeth, trusses,riding acrossAlexanderplatz, holding
those mysteriouslong ticketson which is written: Li+g
D A, Gotzkowskistrasse
C, B, Orani. r z Siemensstrasse
enburgerTor C, C, KottbuserTor A, mysterioustokens,
who can solve them, who can guessand who confess
them, threewords I tell you heavywith thought,and the
22r

scrapsof paper are punchedfour times at certainplaces,

and on them there is written in that same German in
which the Bible and the Criminal Code are written:
Valid till the end of the line, by the shortestroute, connectionwith other lines not guaranteed.They read newspapersof various tendencies)conservetheir balanceby
mearlsof the semicircularcanalsof their internal ear,
inhale oxygen,stare stupidly at each other, have pains,
or no pains,think, don't think, are happy, unhappy,are
neitherhuppy nor unhappy.
Rrrr, rrr, the pile-driver thumps down, I beat everything, another rail. Something is buzzing acrossthe
squarecoming from police headquarters,they are riveting, a cementcranedumps its load. Herr Adolf Kraun,
house-servant,
looks on, the tipping over of the wagon
fairly fascinateshim, you beat everything, he beats
everything.He watchesexcitediy how the sand truck is
always tilting up on one side, there it is up in the air,
boom,and now it tips over. A fellow wouldn,t like to be
kickedout of bed like that, legs up, down with the head,
there you lie, somethingmight happento him, but they
do their job well, all the same.
Franz Biberkopf has his knapsack-onagain and is
selling n.*upop.is. FIe has changedhis beat. He has
left the RosenthalerTor and is now on the Alexanderplatz. He is feeling entirely O. K. agarn,5 feet rcrf
inchestall, his weight is down, that makesit easierto
carry. On his head he wearsthe officialnewspapercap.
Danger of a crisisin the Reichstag,talk of March elec222

tions, probably April elections,which direction,Josepl:

Wirthl The Central German fight continues,they may
appoint an arbitration commission,man attacked by
banditsin Tempelherrenstrasse.
FIe has his standat the
subwayexit, oppositethe Ufa movie.
Alexanderstrasse
house,on the sameside where F'romm,the optician,has
Franz Biberkopflooksdown Miinz.
built a new business.
strasseas he standsfor the first time in a crolvd anc
thinks to himself: Wonder how far it is to the two Jews'
they don't live far from here,that waswhen I washaving
my first troubles,maybe Itll call on them one of these
days,they might buy a copy of the VdlkischerBeobaclt,ter
from me. Why not, if they want it, I don't care,as long
as they buy it. He grins foolishly at the thought, that
very old Jew in thosefunny slipperswasreally too comi
cal for words.FIe looksaround,his fingersare stiff, nexl
to him standsa little cripple with a crookedno.se,prob.
ably broken.Talk of crisisin the Reichstag,No. r7 Heb
belstrasse
evacuated
owing to dangerof collapse,murder
on a fishingboat,mutineeror madman.
Franz Biberkopf and the cripple blow through their
fingers. Businessbefore noon is slack.A thin, elderly
man, looking seedyand down at the heels,comesup tc
Franz. FIe has on a green felt hat and asksF'ranz how
the paper business
is going. Franz, too, had onceasked
((If
that.
it's for yourself,pardner,who cantelll" ((Yes.
I'm fifty-two." ((Well that's just it, don't the rheumatiz
start around fiftyl When I was in the Prussianarmy,
we had an old reservecaptain,he was only forty, from
Saarbriicken)a lottery-cashier-I mean, that's what he
11

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