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# Max Hertzberg

Spies, crime and hopepunk

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [blog](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/blog/)
- [An East German Glossary](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/gdr-glossary/) - Struggling with your Trabants and your Reichsbahn locomotives? A handy dictionary for words commonly used in my books set in East Germany.
- [Top Ten GDR Museums in and around Berlin](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/tours/gdr-museums/) - On a trip to Berlin? Want to know where to find out how life in East Berlin really was? Then check out these museums:
- [Tour 4 - Tram through the Forest](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/tours/tour-4/) - This tour heads through the forest where Martin met Dmitri, the KGB officer, in the first book of the East Berlin Series - a perfect antidote to city life if you're feeling the need for some fresh air. Allow at least 2 hours. Walking distance: 100 metres plus tram, or 4 miles / 6 km
- [Tour 3 - Cops and Squats](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/tours/tour-3-cops-and-squats/) - A walking tour around some of the squats of Friedrichshain, a trip to the Museum of Youth Resistance against the Nazis and the Communists, taking in the impressive Stalinist architecture of the Karl-Marx-Allee and the notorious police station near the film set of the The Lives of Others on Marchlewskistrasse. Consider doing this tour in
- [Tour 2 - Prisons, Factories, Russians and the Stasi](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/tours/tour-2/) - A tour to some of the main sites in Stealing the Future, including Rummelsburg Prison the Russian base and the Stasi HQ.
- [Tour 1 - Martin's Kiez](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/tours/tour-1/) - Explore the neighbourhood in which the protagonist of Stealing the Future lived and worked. This tour takes you through the Victoriastadt in Berlin-Rummelsburg
- [Cold Island - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/cold-island-a-preview/)
- [Stasi Tactics - Zersetzung](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/stasi-tactics/) - A look at the experiences of activists in East Germany (GDR) dealing with Stasi informants and infiltration before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
- [Verfassung der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik - Entwurf 1990](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/documents/verfassung-1990/) - For a discussion of the background to the drafting of this constitution see the post Constitution of 1990. Berlin, April 1990 Inhalt Präambel I. Kapitel Art. 1-40 Menschen- und Bürgerrechte Art. 1-25 Würde, Gleichheit, Freiheit, Solidarität . Art. 26-33 Arbeit, Wirtschaft, Umwelt Art. 34 Rechte der Sorben Art. 35-39 Gesellschaftliche Gruppen und Verbände Art. 40
- [Rostock Connection - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/rostock-connection-a-preview/) - Rostock Connection - Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi is back, and more desperate than ever ...
- [Are Referendums Democratic?](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/can-a-referendum-ever-be-democratic/) - Do referenda lead to mob rule? Was the Brexit referendum democratic? What are the conditions for holding a fair referendum?
- [Contemporary fiction set in the GDR](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/gdr-fiction/) - Enjoy stories about East Germany? Here's a list of contemporary fiction dealing with, or set in East Germany
- [Could the GDR have survived? Part II - the Economics of Stealing the Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/how-plausible-is-stealing-the-future-part-ii-the-economics-of-stealing-the-future/) - External factors caused the death knell for the GDR economy. In those days the economies of the Soviet dominated Eastern Bloc were far more globalised than even today
- [Martin's Music Part I - Das Buch by the Puhdys](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/music/martins-music-pt-1-the-puhdys/) - Is there more to the Puhdys than just a band that was happy to get into bed with the senile East German leadership in return for success?
- [Martin's Music - Introduction](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/music/martins-music/) - Listen to some of the East German bands loved by the protagonist in Stealing The Future.
- [How realistic is Deutschland 83?](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/deutschland-83/) - Deutschland 83 is a fun but unreliable witness to both East and West in 1983, but how would Martin Rauch really have been recruited in the real GDR of 1983?
- [Martin’s Music Part II – Not Fade Away by the Amiga Blues Band](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/frivolity/music/martins-music-part-ii-not-fade-away-by-the-amiga-blues-band/) - The Blues Scene in the GDR started in the late 1950s, gaining official recognition in the 1960s and peaking by the 1970s. But it wasn't until the 1980s that the cultural power of the Bluesers was turned to political ends - this was the point at which the scene became strongly associated with the independent
- [Spelling - how to spell Street Names, Streetnames, Street-names in German](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/spelling-2/) - Please spare a moment to feel sorry for all those who have to deal with the spelling of German street names.
- [Map for Book 1 of the East Berlin Series, Stealing the Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/maps/) - The maps to be found in the book Stealing the Future are reproduced here. Click to enlarge the thumbnails. All maps are based on OpenStreetMap sources, and are ©OpenStreetMap and contributors.
- [Spelling - how to spell West Berlin, Westberlin, West-Berlin...](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/spelling-1/) - West Berlin, Westberlin, West-Berlin, Berlin (West), B(W), BW?!? It wasn't until I'd finished my first draft of Stealing The Future that I started worrying about how to spell Westberlin (or West Berlin, West-Berlin or even Berlin (West)!). I'd blithely tapped away at my keyboard, using the Eastgerman (East German) vernacular, only realising that this may
- [For Our Country](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/documents/for-our-country/) - (This article was originally written for and posted on the website of the interdisciplinary academic network Cultures of the Cold War.) In the counter-factual novel Stealing The Future the rift with reality is pinpointed as beginning on the 4th November 1989, but the subsequent publication of the For Our Country Statement played a significant role
- [Could the GDR have survived? Part I How Plausible is Stealing The Future?](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/how-plausible-is-stealing-the-future/) - Stealing the Future and its sequels have a very simple premise: that East Germany did not get taken over by the West in 1990, but carried on as an independent state. I believe it's fair to say that many, probably most people in the East Germany (the GDR) in 1989-90 actually wanted to stay independent,
- [Map for Book 2 of the East Berlin Series, Thoughts Are Free](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/sneak-preview-map-from-thoughts-are-free/) - It's always an exciting moment when my publisher sends me the maps for my next book. I like maps, and I'm pleased that my publishers are prepared to put the effort into making decent maps for the books I write. For a small publisher like Wolf Press the costs of a professional cartographer and licences
- [Map for Book 3 of the East Berlin Series, Spectre At The Feast](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/map-for-book-3-spectre-at-the-feast/) - Map from the book Spectre At The Feast - Book 3 in the East Berlin Series
- [Spectre At The Feast - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/spectre-at-the-feast/) - Part 3 of the East Berlin Series has been released:
- [Writing the Stasi - guest post by Fiona Rintoul](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/writing-the-stasi/) - "Stasi” was the first new vocabulary item I learnt when I arrived in Leipzig in the 1980s
- [Operation Oskar - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/operation-oskar-a-preview/) - The sequel to Stasi Vice For those of you who can’t wait to find out what happens in Operation Oskar, here’s a short preview. September 1983 “Where were you between 1600 and 2200 hours on the night of the fifteenth? My comrades love a good question, maybe that’s why they were asking me again. And
- [Stasi Vice - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/stasi-vice-a-preview/) - For those of you who can’t wait to find out what happens in Stasi Vice, here's a short preview. Stasi Vice September 1983 It was meant to be a simple job. Lean on a few people, get them to shut up. Intimidate neighbours, bribe officials, appeal to the socialist conscience of Party members. But clearing
- [Constitution of 1990](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/the-constitution-of-1990/) - Work on the 1990 constitution started the very first time the Central Round Table met - taking just over four months to complete it is one of the best modern constitutions.
- [Stay in touch](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/uncategorised/stay-in-touch/)
- [Thoughts Are Free - a preview](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/thoughts-are-free-a-preview/) - For those of you who can't wait to find out what happens in the second part of the East Berlin Series, here's the first chapter of Thoughts Are Free.
- [Political Structures in Stealing the Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/political-structures-part-i/) - Where to start? When writing a political novel the author needs to be very clear about the political structures that form the framework of the story, not to mention how they work on a day-to-day basis (indeed it is the tension between the theory and the practice of these institutions that provide the gaps that
- [Could the GDR have survived? Part III - the Geopolitics of Stealing the Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/politics/how-plausible-is-stealing-the-future-part-iii-the-geopolitics-of-stealing-the-future/) - Go to: Part I - How plausible is Stealing the Future? Go to: Part II - The Economics of Stealing the Future As I said in Part II, in Stealing the Future I've tried to remain as true to historical fact as possible - practically this means trying to keep the history of
- [Spelling - Introduction](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/publishing/spelling/) - When I started writing Stealing the Future I didn't waste much time thinking about spelling and transliteration. Of course, I had some decisions to make quite early on: I decided to leave the umlauts as they were and not make ä into ae, ö into oe and ü into ue - that just looks ugly,
- [Für unser Land](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/documents/fur-unser-land/) - Read the English translation, and an article explaining the significance of this statement. Unser Land steckt in einer tiefen Krise. Wie wir bisher gelebt haben, können und wollen wir nicht mehr leben. Die Führung einer Partei hatte sich die Herrschaft über das Volk und seine Vertretungen angemaßt, vom Stalinismus geprägte Strukturen hatten alle Lebensbereiche durchdrungen.
- [Point of Divergence - when history splits](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/background/point-of-divergence/) - Point of Divergence Stealing the Future is set in 1993 - nearly three years after (in 'our' world) the GDR ceased to exist. But in the East Berlin Series, the GDR has continued to exist, and is searching for ways to remain economically, politically and socially viable as a country in its own right. Inevitably

## Pages

- [What if the Berlin Wall never fell ...](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/) - East Berlin Series This "compelling" series (Fiona Rintoul) is set in an East Germany that didn't end in 1990. 1993. After forty years of communist rule it's time for change: participatory democracy, citizen's movements and de-centralization are part of a new political landscape in East Berlin. But when a politician's crushed body is found a
- [Reim series](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/reim/) - Crime and spy novels narrated by an officer of the Stasi
- [The East Berlin Series](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/eastberlin/) - An East Germany that didn't end in 1990 - participatory democracy, citizen's movements and de-centralization are the new politics. But can it last?
- [Books by Max Hertzberg](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/books/) - Spies, crime and hopepunk - mostly tales from behind the Berlin Wall, with a side-helping of Brexit.
- [About the Author](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/about/) - Author of hopepunk, spies and crime. Mostly tales of East Germany, with a side helping of modern worries (Brexit, climate crisis).
- [On The Run in Northern England](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/home-2/) - Fiction: spies, crime and hopepunk - mostly Cold War stories from East Germany, but with a side helping of Brexit.
- [stay in touch](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/stay-in-touch/) - Sign up to Max Hertzberg’s newsletter for sneak previews, features and news straight to your inbox, and an exclusive short story when you sign up.
- [Contact](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/about/contact/) - You can use the form below to contact me, or catch me on Twitter Mastodon
- [Sign up for Max Hertzberg's newsletter](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/about/subscribe/) - The not-so-small print I won't pass on your email address to anyone else. I will only use your email address to inform you of: upcoming book tours or events related to my books, offers and information relating to my books and publications, my new publications, and changes or additions to this website. A link to
- [The Stasi, cracking GDR crime](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/stasi-vice/) - Spies, crime and Hopepunk - books (mostly about East Germany and the Stasi) by the author Max Hertzberg
- [Self-guided Tours of East Berlin](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tours/) - Visit the squats, factories, military bases and secret police headquarters of East Berlin, as featured in Stealing the Future.
- [Max Hertzberg's books in order](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/books/books-in-order/) - Max Hertzberg's books in order || Wondering about the reading order of Max Hertzberg's series? Here's a printable book list.
- [Articles and Background](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/articles/) - More information and background reading for my books set in East Germany.
- [Features](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/features/)
- [Listen to Reim's first case on audiobook](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/audio/) - For Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi, life in East Berlin is a satisfying blend of days behind a desk and nights in front of a bottle. But when a senior officer has a messy affair, it falls to Reim to do the clearing up. It should be a straightforward job. Lean on a few people
- [Stealing The Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/stealingthefuture/) - Behind the Berlin Wall a dissident is on the trail of a killer
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/about/privacy/) - Who I am This is the site of Max Hertzberg, author and natural person. The website address is: http://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk. What personal data I collect and why I collect it Comments When visitors leave comments on the site I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user
- [Cookie policy](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/cookie-policy/) - [cmplz-document type="cookie-statement"]

## Categories

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- [Documents](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/background/documents/)
- [Economics](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/background/economics/)
- [Frivolous Fripperies](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/frivolity/)
- [Music](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/frivolity/music/)
- [Politics](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/background/politics/)
- [Publishing](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/publishing/)
- [Tours](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/frivolity/tours/)
- [Wittering](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/category/frivolity/wittering/)

## Tags

- [Berlin](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/berlin/)
- [Constitution](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/constitution/)
- [GDR](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/gdr/)
- [Hans Modrow](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/modrow/)
- [Helmut Kohl](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/kohl/)
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- [Stealing the Future](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/stealing-the-future/)
- [Thoughts Are Free](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/thoughts-are-free/)
- [Tours](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/tours/)
- [West Germany](https://www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tag/west-germany/)