Die wunderbaren Jahre

What Are the Wonderful Years? In 1977, the writer Reiner Kunze was expelled from the GDR at his own request. Within a few days, he and his family moved to the Federal Republic. The reason for his expulsion was a book Kunze had published a year earlier in the FRG: Die wunderbaren Jahre, which contained sharp criticism of the SED regime. The collection of stories gathered here is above all a powerful testimony of the time. The loosely connected chapters show ideological discussions in the classroom, doubts about the political system, tensions in the family… These stories are more than a reckoning with a state: it is a timeless book about young people searching for truth, freedom, and their own voice.