The Flying Classroom

The Flying Classroom (German: Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer) is a 1933 novel for children written by the German writer Erich Kästner.

In the book Kästner took up the predominantly British genre of the school story, taking place in a boarding school, and transferred it to an unmistakable German background.

Plot summary

The story covers a few days left for the students of Johann-Sigismund Gymnasium before Christmas. The main characters - students from Tertia (Year 8) - are rehearsing a Christmas drama called 'The Flying Classroom' when their attention is distracted by a brawl against the students of the local Realschule. The depiction of the "war", taken very seriously by both sides, seems to be Kästner's wry way of commenting on grown-up wars and patriotism. The protagonists then find out that the Nichtraucher, or non-smoker, the man who lives in a surplus second class non-smoking car lying in the Schrebergarten, is actually the long-lost best friend of their much-beloved teacher, Der Justus. They then try to reunite the long-separated friends, while coping with their own individual problems.

Characters

Jonathan Trotz, or Johnny - a half-American boy cast away by his parents. He loves poetry and writing, and dreams of being a great writer one day. He wants to marry a kind-hearted women and have children - children that he won't cast away anywhere.

Martin Thaler - a poor but bright student. His parents cannot afford the money for him to come home this Christmas, and it troubles him so. Martin has a very strong sense of justice, and he will come out fighting with his friends although it risks him his scholarship.

Matthias Selbmann, or Matz - he's not very clever, but he is strong. He wants to be a professional boxer. The other children rely on him to smash their opponents. Matz is kind of overprotective toward his bestfriend, Uli.

Uli von Simmern - the blonde, small, underrated rich boy. Best friend of Matz. He always tries to do his best during fighting - usually means hiding away in fear. Uli decides to do an act of bravado to make other children stop making fun of him.

Sebastian Frank, or Sepp - the cynical of the five. He spends time reading 'smart books' such as ones dealing in genetics or philosophy. Although he hangs out a lot with Jonathan and the other guys, he actually has no bestfriends and is a lonely figure putting up a cold mask to cover his own weaknesses.

Theodor Laban - called Der Schöne Theo (The beautiful Theo). He is Martin's prefect, busy trying to make himself look good in the eyes of the teachers.

Dr Johann Bökh, nicknamed Justus - the children's favourite teacher. He was a student of Johann-Sigismund and he knew well how hard life in the school is. That's why he returned to the gymnasium - to ensure that children don't have to suffer, like he did.

Nichtraucher - a bestfriend of Justus. He was a medical doctor. When he lost his wife and child, he disappeared, and later took residence in a trailer situated next to his old gymnasium. His nickname does not come from his not smoking (he does, very much so) but from his living in an old railway carriage still bearing a sign reading "non-smoking".

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel has been filmed several times, the earliest one (1954) directed by Kurt Hoffmann while the newest one (2002) was directed by Tomy Wigand. The story and characters are altered to suit the present time. In Wigand's film, Sebastian Frank is fused with Rudi Kreuzkamm to produce 'Sebastian Kreuzkamm', a red-haired nerd.

Cast of film

The principal cast are:

Hauke Diekamp as Jonathan Trotz

Frederick Lau as Matthias Selbmann

Francois Goeske as Sebastian Kreuzkamm

Hans-Broich Wuttke as Uli von Simmern

Philipp Peters-Arnolds as Martin Thaler, a boy facing the dilemma of soon-to-divorce parents

Nicky Kantor as Der Schoene Theo

Sebastian Koch as Nichtraucher

Piet Klocke as Professor Kreuzkamm, the principal, Sebastian's father

Ulrich Noethen as Justus

Background, the sequel and trivia

This was the last Kästner book published before the rise of the Nazis to power. Though Nazis are not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the book, the situation of economic crisis and mass unemployment which made many German voters turn to Hitler is very evident in the book's background.

Shortly after publishing Das fliegende Klassenzimmer he had to witness how the NSDAP turned to power and how his books were burned as well as those from other dissidents.

A short sequel, in which the characters visit the Winter Olympics of 1936 (held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria) was already written under the Nazi regime and was published only many years later, having less success than the original. In it, Kästner let his characters have a friendly encounter with visiting English boys, at a time when their soon meeting each other as enemy soldiers on the battlefield was already a very real possibility.

External links

• German Films: The Flying Classroom
• IMDB link on Kurt Hoffman's adaptation

References

• Kästner, Erich (1933). Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer (1st ed. ed.). Germany. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Kästner, Erich (October 1967). The Flying Classroom (English ed. ed.). Puffin Books. ISBN 0140303111. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)