Hamburg, Wache 16 - Reading

1976. The 23-year-old Polle is transferred against his will to the toughest police station in the country: Wache 16 in Hamburg St. Pauli. Unlike the world-famous Davidwache, it is not in the colorful neon lights of the Reeperbahn, but in the dirtier and darker streets of the district. What Polle encounters on duty here often goes far beyond what is bearable: neglect, violent crime, abuse, human trafficking. The rules of engagement learned at the police academy prove almost useless on the Kiez, and the long-established 16ers have long since created their own moral compass. Polle's mentor becomes the experienced street cop Werner, who, like an old Western sheriff, decides exclusively by his own rules and repeatedly drives Polle into moral conflicts. With the innkeeper's daughter Christa and the prostitute Melanie, Polle then encounters two completely different women almost simultaneously, who will shape his professional and private life.

Hamburg, Wache 16 is not only Polle's story, but a grand ensemble piece, an epic from the red- and blue-light milieu. A blend of Game of Thrones and Die Buddenbrooks, with a lot of unprotected sex.

Hamburg, Wache 16 is a portrait of the 70s on Hamburg's Kiez, a depiction of the era and its mores, culminating in a dramatic finale in which Polle must choose between two families: his own and the cops' family…

Am 13.4.26 um 19:30 wird Michael Ehnert seinen Roman persönlich im St. Pauli Theater vorstellen. Von jemandem, der nicht stillsitzen kann, sollte man allerdings keine herkömmliche Lesung erwarten. Ehnert wird nur zum Teil literarische Kostproben geben, zugleich wird er über Hamburg in den 70er und 80er Jahren sprechen, über Theater, Film, St. Pauli und über seine Familiengeschichte, der sein Roman zugrunde liegt. Eine Stand-Up-Lesung mit Q&A und Signierstunde.