Fabian Moral

Author's name: Erich Kestner

“Like his hero Fabian, Kestner was not disaffected, but idealistic, melancholic… a key novel for the Weimar Republic in its final years.”

The Times Literary Supplement

In a world where standards have been turned upside down, morality has lost its grip, and extreme political factions are at odds, Fabian, the anxious intellectual, remains a moral champion amidst the chaos, observing the changes in life in Berlin as workers lose their jobs to new technologies, businessmen are busy making profits, and human hypocrisy is on the rise.

With a merciless, satirical, and critical spirit, Kestner examines the political and social decline of the Weimar Republic. The novel was widely acclaimed and, at the same time, sparked considerable controversy due to its explicit criticism, which led to its subsequent ban by the Nazis. Nevertheless, it has continued to secure its place as a timeless classic of German literature.

The novel was adapted for the screen in 1980 by Wolf Grimmel, titled Fabian, and another film in 2021, titled Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde, directed by Dominik Graf.