Goodbye To Berlin

In October, there is a Nazi demonstration against people of Jewish descent. The windows of all of the Jewish shops are smashed, including a shop called Landauers’. Frl. Mayr is delighted by the demonstrations. This angers Isherwood, who tells Frl. Mayr that the Landauers are personal friends of his. In reality, Isherwood has never met the Landauers; a mutual friend has only given Isherwood a letter of introduction to them. Isherwood uses this occasion to write to Frau Landauer, in order to see her.

At the Landauers’ home, Natalia Landauer and Isherwood talk about literature and Isherwood’s writing. Natalia wants Isherwood to bring her a copy of a story he has been working on. She takes Isherwood to the cinema to see a film but doubts he will like it because “it isn’t something clever enough” (143) for him. Natalia has never understood the trope of arguing families in the literature she reads. She tells Isherwood that she could never argue with her parents because she knows that everything they do is out of love for her. Natalia expresses concern about her family’s money being gone one day. She wants to leave school and find a way to earn money for her family. Natalia constantly presses Isherwood for his sincere impressions and opinions of things. She tells Isherwood, “I’m afraid you are vairy [sic] insincere. You do not give your real meaning” (147).

Isherwood meets Herr Landauer and Natalia’s cousin, Bernhard. At lunch, Herr Landauer asks Isherwood if Lord Byron was “guilty of the crime of incest” (150). He also asks Isherwood if English Law was “justified in punishing Oscar Wilde” (150). Bernhard invites Isherwood to visit him sometime, but Natalia warms Isherwood that if he visits Bernhard, he should be careful. Bernhard is very sarcastic and she thinks he might be inviting Isherwood to pay a visit in order to laugh at him.

When Isherwood does visit Bernhard, Bernhard seems world-weary, despite his youth. Bernhard asks Isherwood if he is happy in Berlin. When Isherwood responds that he is very happy, Bernhard replies that it’s wonderful to have “a spirit possessed of such vitality that it can be happy, even in Berlin” (155). As Isherwood continues to spend time with Bernhard, he becomes aware that Bernhard treats everyone like they are children. Isherwood notes that Bernhard is “clothed in arrogance, in the arrogant humility of the East” (158).

Isherwood arranges for Natalia to meet Sally Bowles. After they meet at a café, it is apparent that Sally and Natalia don’t like each other. Natalia is very quiet and reserved while Sally gossips about the English film industry. Isherwood is annoyed with Natalia for being a prude and annoyed with Sally for having nothing else to talk about except “adultery” (162). This is where Isherwood marks the decline in his relationship with Natalia. Natalia seems convinced that Sally is Isherwood’s mistress. One day, Isherwood calls for Natalia and is told she’s gone abroad.

Bernhard calls Isherwood one morning to go with him that evening into the country and spend the night. Bernhard won’t explain where they are going or why. Eventually, Bernhard reveals that they are going to a place that used to belong to his father. He describes it as a cottage house, and Isherwood imagines it as a small, cold building. When they arrive, however, Isherwood discovers the place to be a large, decadent villa. During their stay, Bernhard shares with Isherwood his time as a boy growing up during World War One. He talks of his brother, who was killed at the beginning of the war, of business rivals devising propaganda against his father because his wife was English, his mother’s obsession with ancient Jewish history and literature and her turning away from European culture and traditions, and his mother’s cancer and eventual suicide when the pain became unbearable. Bernhard believes Isherwood is too polite and probably thinks that people shouldn’t speak to each other the way Bernhard just has, in regard to sharing the personal details about his life. Bernhard then reveals that he invited Isherwood to the villa and shared his story with him because Bernhard hasn’t spoken intimately with anyone in ten years and has wanted to put the ghosts of his past to rest.

Six months pass. Bernhard invites Isherwood to the villa again and when Isherwood arrives this time, there is a crowd of people on the lawn having a garden party. Bernhard seems to be younger and more energetic at the party. Isherwood is surprised to see Natalia there. She has been in Paris studying art. 

Eight months pass. Isherwood visits Bernhard again, only this time he looks very ill. Bernhard shows Isherwood a threatening note that tells Bernhard he and his uncle have twenty-four hours to leave Germany or they are “dead men” (177). Bernhard says he receives letters like this three to four times a week. On a lighter note, Bernhard tells Isherwood that Natalia is a married to a young French doctor.

Bernhard tells Isherwood that politics seem a little trivial to him at the moment because he feels like he’s losing touch with reality. He sometimes doubts that Landauers’ exists at all, yet realizes he is now more than ever a slave to the business. Isherwood informs Bernhard that he is leaving for England in a few days for the summer. When Bernhard asks Isherwood if he’s tired of Berlin, Isherwood replies, “I feel more as if Berlin ha[s] [become] tired of me” (180). Bernhard makes a joke about leaving for China with Isherwood that evening. Eighteen months later, Isherwood is convinced Bernhard’s joke was completely serious.

When Isherwood returns to Berlin in the autumn, he attempts to get into contact with Bernhard but is either told he is away on business or gets no answer. The caretaker at Bernhard’s flat tells Isherwood that Bernhard has gone away and Isherwood concludes that he must be somewhere safely abroad. Isherwood leaves Berlin for the last time in May. At a restaurant in Prague, Isherwood overhears two businessmen talking about Landauers’. The newspapers are reporting that Bernhard Landauer has died of heart failure, though the two businessmen speculate that the Nazis have killed him.