Start of the series “Literarische Heimat Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf”

Many authors who helped shape the cultural life of their time spent years of their lives in Berlin’s Wilmersdorf and Charlottenburg districts. In cooperation with the ZfL and the Acting program at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), the Stadtbibliothek Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf presents some of these authors.

While the major literary histories are still mostly interested in male authors, the first event of the series “Literarische Heimat Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf” presents three prominent female authors:

• The expressionist poet Elsa Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945) lived in Schlüterstraße, Wielandstraße, Uhlandstraße, and Ludwigskirchstraße in the early 20th century.
• Else Ury (1877–1943), a popular author of children’s and youth books best known for her Nesthäkchen series lived in Kantstraße, among other places, before being deported to Auschwitz.
• Poet Mascha Kaléko (1907–1975), well-known for her humorous but also melancholy urban poetry, lived in Bleibtreustraße and elsewhere before being forced to emigrate to the United States in 1938

Over the course of three evenings, we will present the lives and works of these authors. Acting students from UdK will read excerpts from their works.

Program

Venue: Heinrich-Schulz-Bibliothek, Otto-Suhr-Allee 98, 10585 Berlin

Thursday, 20 Nov 2025, 18.00
Pola Groß (ZfL): Mascha Kaléko – Lyrikerin der Großstadt: von der Bleibtreustraße ins Exil
Reading: Irene Wagner

Thursday, 18 Dec 2025, 18.00
Aurore Peyroles (ZfL): Else Lasker-Schüler – von Berlin nach Jerusalem: die Dichterin des Expressionismus
Reading: Mia Dräger and Anna Kasten

Thursday, 29 Jan 2026, 18.00
Anja Keith (ZfL): Else Ury – die Bestsellerautorin aus der Kantstraße: erst verehrt, dann deportiert
Reading: Lina Förster and Jonah Steinhauer