Berlin Childhood circa 1900

Not for sale in Estonia!


This fresh translation by Carl Skoggard of philosopher Walter Benjamin's (1892-1940) engaging memoir remains faithful to the author's voice. Readers are offered glimpses of an anonymous Berlin childhood which might have been Benjamin's own, with recollections of an affluent Jewish home in Berlin's West End, circa 1900. Focusing less on events and characters than on places and things, Benjamin vividly reimagines a young child's idiosyncratic private world. Written in the months before and after the Nazi takeover of Germany, these recollections served as a coping mechanism for Benjamin, a way of working through irrevocable loss.

This edition is illustrated with 30 black-and-white images and comes with a foldable color map of Berlin circa 1900 as well as a translator's essay and an extensive commentary.