Quite a few city dwellers are fleeing to their second homes in the countryside during the lockdown. After all, where better to sit out the coronavirus than in the peace and quiet of nature? Juli Zeh’s 2016 social novel Unterleuten shows that the glorified image of the countryside held by city dwellers has nothing to do with actual rural life: a planned wind farm brings more than just excitement to the village of Unterleuten in Brandenburg.
In the upcoming Baumeister May issue, we will be looking at the topic of building in the countryside. If you want to get a deep insight into the psyche of long-established and newly arrived villagers in advance, you should watch the three-part ZDF program “Unterleuten” (in the media library). Juli Zeh’s social novel from 2016 was made into a movie.
This much can be revealed: It’s about wind turbines. We therefore recommend the TV series to city dwellers in particular, who often don’t understand the uproar caused by planned wind farms in the countryside. City dwellers simply expect renewable energy to come from there as a matter of course.
As the village of Unterleuten is located somewhere in Brandenburg, long-hidden animosities between the winners and losers of the transition are also breaking out. The idyll soon turns into hell. And the series becomes a cure for romanticized rural lust for those of us who have to endure these times in the city.
Anyone who thinks the condensed TV version is too superficial can delve into the 639-page novel. Now is the time to do so.
“Unterleuten – das zerrissene Dorf” in the ZDF media library or novel by Juli Zeh from Luchterhand Literaturverlag, ISBN 3630874878
Here you can find the last cultural tip: Lecture by Jan De Vylder.
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