On June 20, Eugen Ruge, author of the bestsellers "In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts" and "Metropol", will read from his novel "Pompeij" as part of the open-air readings in Schönhausen Castle Gardens. When dead birds are found on a mountain above the city of Pompeii, immigrant Jowna, alias Josephus, alias Josse, has an intuition: if there really is a volcano rumbling, as some people claim, you should get out. Without an education, money or influence, he manages to become the leader of a dropout movement. Gradually, the dropout Josse becomes a climber. His companions, with their weakness for toadstool brew and philosophy, become a burden to him and his own ideas begin to bother him. But how do you jettison your convictions without alienating your followers? How do you make a U-turn without turning around? Eugen Ruge's 'Pompeii' is an invention based on historical truth and at the same time astonishing in its contemporaneity: the story of a fatal delusion in the run-up to a catastrophe. A dazzling parable about seductiveness, betrayal and delusion. A brilliantly told journey through time into a distant past in which we reflect and recognize ourselves.

The "Open Air Readings" series is organized in cooperation with Buchlokal Pankow.