Das Gelübde

In 1818, writer Clemens Brentano went to Dülmen in Prussian-ruled Westphalia to chronicle the visions of stigmatized nun Anna Katherina Emmerick. Brentano stayed there for six years, until her death, producing tomes in which documentation becomes pensée, file fiction, observational tract. Times were heady – a nation called Germany was in the making, the scent of revolution filled the air. But: what kind of revolution, and to create what kind of Germany?
Prussian enlightenment in its protestant dourness clashes with a down-to-earth, flesh-and-bones catholic radicalism over the shape and soul of a nation that shall prove to be never whole, never at ease and peace with itself. Which means that Das Gelübde is not only the story of a most unusual meeting, but also a brooding conspiracy thriller whose subtext – about the use and abuse of religion in politics – is only too timely. One of Graf’s most outstanding works.

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