Bahnwärter Thiel war eines der Bücher, die ich in der Schule wirklich gehasst habe, bei denen ich aber nachvollziehen kann, weshalb sie literarischen Wert besitzen. Die Atmosphäre ist mir als sehr depressiv in Erinnerung geblieben, wobei das dem Buch aufgrund seiner düsteren Themen gerecht wird. Dennoch denke ich, dass es für Schüler der achten oder neunten Klasse andere Bücher gibt, die wesentlich besser geeignet sind, und dass es sich hierbei um kein Buch handelt, das unbedingt gelesen werden müsste. ( )

2.5 stars ( )

Hauptmann was the 1912 Nobel Prize winner and probably the most celebrated writer in Germany around the time of the first world war. Like a lot of European writers around the turn of the century, he was interested in movements like Socialism and Naturalism. The novella Bahnwärter Thiel was his first published work.

Thiel is a railwayman who is responsible for operating a remote and little-used level crossing in the depths of the Spree forest (not far from Berlin), a posting that suits his gentle, solitary character. Nonetheless, he surprises his neighbours by getting married. His first wife unfortunately dies giving birth to their son, and as widowers tend to do in such situations, he soon marries again. The second wife soon produces a baby as well, and when she starts doing the evil stepmother thing we already know we're heading for tragedy, and it's a safe bet that someone is going to end up under a train.

It isn't quite as much fun as it is in a Zola novel to watch the headlights of the express heading towards us from page one onwards, but there are some interesting elements to the story: the detail of Thiel's everyday working life and his relationship with the solitude of the signal cabin is very well done. For a story published in the 1880s, it's also remarkably explicit about the way Lene uses her sexuality to keep control of Thiel. But of course it's also a remarkably misogynistic story... ( )

Schullektüre ( )