Collie mongrel Alf and his fellow dogs, who perform guard duty and patrol the border between the two German states, are the real protagonists of this masterpiece of reportage literature. Marie-Luise Scherer describes the business of dogs and people on the border strip vividly and with captivating precision; her art of literary reportage is unrivaled. Due to the political developments since 1990, The Dog Border has become a historical document, and even after twenty years it is a pure delight to read.
Literary reportage
Marie-Luise Scherer, born in Saarbrücken in 1938, was a writer for Der Spiegel for more than twenty years, where her highly precise stories were first published. She has received numerous awards, including the Ludwig Börne Prize in 1994, the Italo Svevo Prize in 2008 and the Heinrich Mann Prize in 2011. She lived in Damnatz an der Elbe until her death in December 2022.
By the same author(s)
"When reading Marie-Luise Scherer's reportage The Dog Border, which appeared in Der Spiegel in 1994 and has now been been republished by Matthes & Seitz, you can't help but be amazed at what a new look at the inner German border reveals when the perspective is shifted." – Philipp Goll, taz