THE HARZ JOURNEY - Exploring Germany

  • An adventurous journey into the Harz - a landscape of yearning and a mirror of Germany all at once.
  • Steffen Kopetzky's celebrated storytelling vividly captures history and grand connections.
  • More than 220,000 copies sold of his previous books altogether.

A German soul-exploration in deeply unsettled times.

Two hundred years after Heinrich Heine’s Harzreise, Steffen Kopetzky follows his route through a fascinating German soulscape: The Harz mirrors our country - it is a poetic fairy tale location and a climate crisis hotspot, revealing historical wealth, structural change, and poverty; it was once divided between East and West.

The strip that was once the border is now the "Green Belt", one of nature's most encouraging powerhouses. Kopetzky encounters sites of memory in our country, from witch dancing grounds on the myth-enshrouded Brocken to legendary listening posts. He discovers its immense potential, makes touching human experiences, but also sees the reality of an unsettled society in which "Germanness" takes new forms.

With the echo sounder of the history-conscious author and the openness of the wanderer, Kopetzky explores not only this surprisingly unknown country but also the spirit of life the Harz has represented since Heine's time - a desired place of freedom and spiritual renewal. A surprising, vividly told travel adventure - and an exploration of Germany of a very special kind.

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  • Publisher: Rowohlt Berlin
  • Release: 17.04.2026
  • ISBN: 978-3-7371-0256-8
  • 240 Pages
  • Author: Steffen Kopetzky

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Steffen Kopetzky THE HARZ JOURNEY - Exploring Germany
Portrait von Steffen Kopetzky
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Steffen Kopetzky

Steffen Kopetzky , born in 1971, is the author of novels, stories, radio plays and theatre plays. His novel Risiko (2015) was on the Spiegel bestseller list for months and was nominated for the German Book Prize, while Propaganda  (2019) was nominated for the Bavarian Book Prize. From 2002 to 2008, Kopetzky was the artistic director of the Theatre Biennale Bonn. He lives in his hometown Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm with his family.