Freedom used to begin in Jeetzenbeck. The village in the Altmark was the first stop on the journey into the wide world: to America. But today, nobody can leave here so easily. The train connection to Altenwedel is to be discontinued and the detached houses on the outskirts of the village are falling into disrepair.
The good times, if they ever existed, are over.
Like those of 1. FC Magdeburg. But Marcel, who works as a skewer salesman at the station, won’t stop dreaming. Of Steffi, the love of his life, of a happy family, of a better life to the beat of dance music. What he gets instead is a best friend who drinks,
a father who has never been to America and a sister who crashed into the cemetery wall. But why is Vanessa still dead, and what does Steffi have to do with it, who one day stands in front of Marcel again: with her red hair, her sadness and her unfathomable smile?

A great novel about the supposedly little people. A hymn to the written-off part of our country, a “trainspotting” for East Germany, a wake-up call: Hello, good morning Germany!

Moderation: Farukh Sauerwein