In her last book, Carola Stern tells the story of a Jewish-Christian family at the turn of the century, a time when the world of the Prussian aristocracy described by Fontane begins to crumble and Berlin becomes the centre of economic and cultural modernity. A new word is coined: anti-Semitism. It all started in the home of Fontane. The promising young writer Clara Viebig approached the great Berlin author for advice. Fontane passed on her manuscript to his son’s publishing company whose joint partner was Friedrich Theodor Cohn, the well-travelled son of an educated Jewish bourgeois family. In »Fritz«, Clara found a sympathetic listener who showed an interest in her literary work. With his help, the chronicler of the little people, the »German Zola«, became a best-selling author. In 1896, the couple married. Mixed marriages at that time not being something that was taken for granted, their families were not pleased with the alliance. Fontane had to convince Clara’s mother that Cohn was one of the »fine Jews«.
Carola Stern writes about Fritz and Clara, about the political and amorous affairs of their son Ernst, who was a composer and conductor and later emigrated, about their circle of friends which included Rudolf Steiner, and about the politically courageous writer Armin T. Wegner, who wrote a famous letter to Hitler in 1933.
Carola Stern died before she was able to finish her last book. Final amendments and revisions were made by Ingke Brodersen, Carola Stern’s editor and friend of many years.
