Karl or The Last Communist

Karl and Emilie are children of the war and post-war years, born into the silence of a provincial family. But while his sister increasingly cuts herself off, Karl becomes a leading agitator of the ‘68 movement. Eberhard Rathgeb tells the story of a generation and explores the ideals of a symbolic era.

Even in the year when Karl was born, a public communist would have ended up in a concentration camp. Fifty years later, communism is nothing more than a sign of ageing. But while most people are adjusting to modern times with increasing speed, Karl sticks to his old ideals: finally, he dies in 2010, still a communist. In defiant language and an increasingly astounding perspective, Eberhard Rathgeb tells the story of two siblings who, despite their fondness for one another, understand each other less and less; and of an aging young man who wants to change the world and yet increasingly isolates himself from it. Rathgeb takes these ideals seriously, even though world history has long since forgotten them.