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Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5423652
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One of the books that best describes inter-war Berlin, and which shaped our vision of that place and that time, is Goodbye to Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood.
The novel, a partly autobiographical account of Isherwood's time in 1930s Berlin, describes pre-Nazi Germany and the people he met. It is written as a connected series of six short stories and novellas.
Moving to Germany to work on a novel, the young writer Isherwood becomes involved with a diverse array of German citizens: the caring landlady, Frl. Schroeder; the "divinely decadent" Sally Bowles, a young Englishwoman who sings in the local cabaret and her coterie of admirers; Natalia Landauer, the rich, Jewish heiress of a prosperous family business; Peter and Otto, a gay couple struggling to accept their relationship and sexuality in light of the rise of the Nazis.
The apartment where Christopher lived was situated at Nollendorfstrasse 17. The building was full of eccentrics who inspired not only Goodbye to Berlin but also another novel: The Last of Mr. Norris. He lived
there with Jean Ross, the model for the nightclub singer and aspiring
actress Sally Bowles. His landlady, Meta Thurau, inspired the character
of Fräulein Schroeder, who, in Isherwood’s fiction, stood for the
typical Berliner of those days.
Sally Bowles, impersonated by Liza Minnelli, is one of the main characters of Cabaret, the award-winning film from 1972 directed by Bob Fosse.
Other posts about Christopher Isherwood:
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