A thin, elderly man. Alone in his back courtyard apartment, he spends his days cleaning up, putting his life in order in the 500 square feet he occupies. Every object is linked to a memory. The only times he ventures outside is to do grocery shopping. There is no telephone. Sometimes the walls close in. Then he goes down to the pub to silently tell the story that seems to limp along behind him. His wife, long since passed away, comes back to him from the plastic vase adorning the table. The thin man is from a generation that wears death like a flag. Many have died of sorrow and grief, but life is never without hope. In the hastily rebuilt city of the post-war era, he and Martha were happy for many years. The vase is a testament to love, as it once adorned the table on Martha’s birthday. It still contains the energy of that happiness. And so, day by day, he wanders among the fragments of his life. (Gundula Schulze Eldowy)