The book "Herscht 07769", by Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2025, portrays the fictional city of Kana, located in the federal state of Thuringia. The work has been used as an analytical tool to understand the resentment that persists in the former East German regions.
The latent resentment in Saxony-Anhalt and neighboring states is not due only to economic reasons, such as the lag in regional development and fewer job opportunities. Krasznahorkai's work shows that there is also a widespread perception that, in Berlin, no one truly cares about this part of the country.
This feeling of abandonment has been fueling political tensions in the region, manifesting itself through the growth of extremist parties and the growing distrust of central institutions. The phenomenon, known as "Ostalgie", combines nostalgia for the socialist past with frustration over the current situation.
