W For me, interzeit is Germany time. During part of the summer in Puglia I usually return home in the cold season full of contradictory feelings. It’s euphoric to see friends again, to soak up the cultural scene, to be in a place that you understand perfectly without standing out or having to explain yourself.
At the same time, looking from outside, you experience the bad things more clearly and the decline more drastically: the increasingly martial German border officials, the impoverishment and homelessness in the cities, the horrendous prices, the increasingly cautious conversations with strangers, so as not to broach a polarizing topic. Every time I come back I’m scared. Of course, these phenomena also exist elsewhere, but in the home country it simply hurts more.
This time, however, something is different. The Debates about emigration have become more concrete. It has already sparked curiosity that I have a small holiday home with land in Italy. These “If the AfD comes to power, then…” considerations have already existed before. But in the face of escalating fascism, wars and climate collapse, the questions are suddenly concrete and serious.
Friends, colleagues and even strangers ask me how I manage this or that abroad. You report thinking about leaving Germany. Whether you leave or resist. Others consider buying a piece of land in case of war. A friend wonders whether she looks white enough to avoid deportation. The playfulness is gone. And although Italy is certainly not a fascism-free alternative, although the Mediterranean may not have been the wisest choice in times of climate collapse, I am eternally grateful for a remote piece of land where no bombs are likely to fall, you can support yourself, and don’t depend on the landlord. Terrible times.
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Abroad I meet those who are one step further. As a German, there is hardly anything there that attracts you as much as other Germans. When I ask why they emigrated or plan to emigrate, I often hear: “It’s getting worse and worse in Germany.” I then nod, but what exactly the other person means varies enormously: the taxes, the political correctness, the AfD, the foreigners, the medical services – as if they lived in another Germany.
Then the Germans want to meet up and talk about “the Italians” with a knowing smile. Because in Germany everything may be getting worse and worse. But of course it’s best there.