The Pears of Ribbeck

Die Birnen von Ribbeck; The Pears of Ribbeck (1991)

This novella explores an encounter between Ossis (East Germans) and Wessis (West Germans) during the German reunification of 1990.

A group of West Germans arrive in the village of Ribbeck, near the town of Nauen in the former East Germany (now the federal state of Brandenburg), in order to celebrate German reunification. The West German visitors are inspired by ‘Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland’ (1889), a ballad by the Prussian poet and novelist Theodor Fontane. The ballad tells how the lord of the manor used to give pears to the local children. When he died, he asked for a pear to be placed in his coffin and so a pear tree grew, enabling future generations to enjoy his pears. In honour of this charming legend, the Westerners arrive in large, expensive cars, bringing with them a pear tree, crates of beer and various gifts for the locals including pens and new mattresses for the old people’s home.

The story is narrated by an East German farmer who recounts the history of his village from the feudal days of Leibeigenschaft (serfdom, which only ended in Prussia in 1810), through the turbulent decades of the early 20th century, the Third Reich and then the four decades of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in which the authorities chose to forget Fontane’s poem because it sang the praises of an aristocrat.

The novella shows the role that German literature – in this case, Theodor Fontane – sometimes played in German reunification by providing shared cultural reference points between the two German nations. Fontane is also an important point of reference in Günter Grass’s reunification novel, Ein weites Feld; Too Far Afield (1995).

When reunification happened, each GDR citizen was given ‘Begrüßungsgeld’ (welcome money); in Delius’s novella, the villagers of Ribbeck are given ‘Begrüßungsbier’ (welcome beer).

In the novella, a West German writer adopts an East German perspective. Speaking on behalf of a nation that was absorbed by a larger one could be seen as presumptious, but Delius manages the job with considerable tact and sensitivity. The text avoids sentimentality, delivering plenty of barbs against both Ossis and Wessis.

English Translation

Friedrich Christian Delius, The Pears of Ribbeck, trans. by Hans Werner (Toronto: Exile Editions, 1991)