A German Square – The Ballad of Stutti
A square that makes history come alive
Stuttgarter Platz in West Berlin is more than just a location - it’s a living archive of Germany’s turbulent 20th century. From the decadence of Babylon Berlin to becoming a centre of the black market to sanctuary for war refugees, from its days as a red-light district to becoming the cradle of the student movement or the hub for underground culture in the 1980s.
The author traces the vibrant stories and iconic figures that shaped “Stutti,” including the legendary Babalu bar and the filming of The Hooligans (Die Halbstarken) starring Karin Baal and Horst Buchholz. The famed “Elefant” café was long run by Leo Fischmann, a concentration camp survivor, while counterculture icon Rainer Langhans moved into a grand old apartment nearby.
Stuttgarter Platz is where Germany’s major political and cultural currents converge.
- Offers a rich, character-driven narrative of post-war West Germany
- West-Berlin as a microcosm for political and cultural developments
- For readers of Harald Jähner and Uwe Wittstock
Michael Angele, born in 1964, is a Swiss journalist and author. He studied general and comparative literature at the FU in Berlin and his PhD thesis was on conspiracy theories in German literature in the 1920s. Since 2009, he has worked for the weekly newspaper Der Freitag. He has published several (auto)biographical books.
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