Markus Thielemann (Germany)

Markus Thielemann (b. 1992) lives in Hanover but grew up in a village in Lower Saxony. He studied geography, philosophy, and creative writing, and in 2021 published his debut novel “Zwischen den Kiefern” (“Among the Pines”). Thielemann’s second novel, “Von Norden rollt ein Donner” (“Thunder Rolls from the North”, 2024), was shortlisted for the German Book Prize, placing it among the six most notable German-language novels of the year. The publishing house Eesti Raamat is publishing the Estonian translation by Piret Pääsuke.

With “Thunder Rolls from the North”, Thielemann places the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany on the literary map. The Lüneburg Heath is Germany’s first nature reserve and is today a well-known tourist destination, evoking images of an idyllic heathland grazed by a flock of sheep. In the novel, Thielemann gradually deconstructs this idyllic image, revealing the complex and contradictory nature of the place’s identity, where idyll and violence coexist. The Heath is home to a Rheinmetall factory, weapons industry and NATO training grounds, and during the Second World War, it was the site of a subcamp of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The protagonist of the novel is Jannes, a 19-year-old shepherd whose family has made a living from sheep farming for several generations, although nowadays it is only possible through considerable effort, thanks to tourism. The story is set in motion by the news that wolves have appeared on the heath – a topical issue even in Estonia. In the novel, the wolf is not only a predator threatening sheep and a traditional way of life, arousing anxiety and aggression in people, but also a symbol of all that is foreign and unfamiliar. This anxiety also affects the young shepherd, merging with mythical and dreamlike visions rooted in a long-silenced family history.

Alongside the main plot, the novel, composed in richly poetic language, touches skilfully on themes such as resurgent nationalism, mental health issues, intergenerational understanding, and the questions of responsibility and freedom of choice faced by a young person.

“Thunder Rolls from the North” is a fine example of the “Anti-Heimatroman”, a form of regionally critical novel that emerged in the German-speaking world after the Second World War, as a counterpoint to the traditional Heimatroman, which celebrated rural life or the beauty of the mountains in contrast to urban life.

German Book Prize 2024 | Portrait Markus Thielemann | English