If I Were a Cloud – Maria Schrader and Volker Weidermann on Mascha Kaléko and the journey of her life
January 1956: Seventeen years after she managed to flee Nazi Germany just in time, Mascha Kaléko returns. It’s a journey into the past, intertwined with the anxious question of whether it can also take her into the future. She goes to Berlin, to the city where she was happy, where she made a name for herself as a poet, the city she loved. And she travels around the whole country, for an entire year. Almost every day she sends letters to New York. She writes to her husband, the love of her life, telling him about fairytale successes, a miracle in Berlin, deep chasms, about an old, new country.
In Wenn ich eine Wolke wäre [“If I Were a Cloud”], Volker Weidermann writes about a single year in the life of the great poet, Mascha Kaléko (1907–1975), and shows us a whole German-Jewish life. It is the story of a poet in whose humor, spirit and melancholy we recognize ourselves. Maria Schrader reads Kaléko’s timeless poetry.
Contributors
Maria Schrader
Maria Schrader, born in 1965, is an actress, screenwriter and… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.
Volker Weidermann
Volker Weidermann, who was born in Darmstadt in 1969, hosted the… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.
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Event data
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Date:
Saturday
21. March 2026
18:00 -
Pre Pre sale price (fees excluded) ab 24 €
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Accessibility
- Wheelchair friendly + toilets Available
- Assistance dogs welcome Available
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