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A Berlin book: The House by the Lake

I liked this book a lot. It's the story of a piece of land on Groß Glienicker See (Glienicke Lake) near Potsdam. A Jewish physician from Berlin named Alfred Alexander leased the land and built a lake/weekend house on it in the late 1920's. The book follows the history of the house over the next several decades, telling the stories of its various owners while weaving in the history of Berlin. Although the house fell into disrepair, it has been restored through the efforts of Dr Alexander's descendants. Guided tours have recently restarted...

https://alexanderhaus.org/

Posted by
564 posts

Thank you for the suggestion. I enjoy reading nonfiction novels. I also have fallen in love with Berlin!

Posted by
104 posts

Thank you for the recommendation. Another very good read, with a similar theme is "The House at the Bridge" by Katie Hafner. It tells the story of Berlin and Germany thru the lives and events of the occupants of the villa throughout it's history, from the time it was built through post WWII when it fell behind East German lines. It sounds very much like your book, Dave.

Posted by
3961 posts

Thanks Dave for your recommendation. Berlin has been on our radar for a future journey. Until then, I will add this to my book list.

Edited to add: Thanks also to Lisa for her book recommendation as well!

Posted by
3809 posts

Lisa --> I agree... the books look similar, but I'm pretty intrigued by The House at the Bridge, too. So much so, I ordered from Amazon. I love stuff like that. Thanks for the recommendation.

Janis --> I love Berlin.

Posted by
104 posts

Dave, I'm glad you ordered the book I recommended, I think you'll enjoy it. I'm going to order your book recommendation.
Also, thanks for the link you posted. It's all very interesting.