Carmen Korn: »Und die Welt war jung«

1 January 1950: In Cologne, Hamburg and San Remo, people are welcoming the new decade. The last one left deep wounds in its wake – in cities, and in people’s heads and hearts. Gerda and Heinrich Aldenhoven’s house in Cologne is bursting at the seams, and Heinrich’s art gallery is not earning anywhere near enough money to fill all the hungry mouths. In Hamburg, Gerda’s friend Elisabeth and her husband Kurt are less worried about money. As the head of promotions at the local savings bank, Kurt can ensure his family enjoys a modest livelihood. Fate has taken Margarethe, née Aldenhoven, from Cologne to San Remo, where her life at the side of her Italian husband seems free of cares. Different as the characters’ New Year’s celebrations are – partying in Cologne, a quiet night at home in Hamburg, all chic and elegant in San Remo –, the questions they ask the next morning are the same: Will the wounds left by the war finally heal? What will the future bring?