A few months ago, I saw a punk lady on the Berlin subway with several dogs. For a moment, I was euphoric. “I wonder if she is Christiane F”? A quick Google check showed me that it wasn’t. But it could have been. Christiane, my teenage idol, since I read the book “Eu, Christiane F, drugged and prostituted”, still lives in Berlin, the city I moved to a few years ago. And, according to city rumors and local reports, she is an ordinary person, who takes the subway often.
If you were born in the 70’s or 80’s you know who I’m talking about. Christiane Vera Felscherinow became famous around the world after the autobiographical book, written by her with the help of two journalists, was published in Germany in 1978 and became a best seller worldwide.
40 years ago, the story became a movie. And, as a celebration, the film returns to theaters this weekend in Brazil. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. And even those who, like me, are familiar with the story, will enjoy seeing it again.
The book and film about Christiane are irresistible and have aged very well.
That’s because the book and film are not just about the drama of a girl raised in a housing project in the suburbs of Berlin who becomes addicted to heroin as a child and turns to prostitution. This is a story about dreamy teenagers, seeking freedom, confused. And that never dates. This is a common drama for teenagers of any generation,
Christiane F today
The first time I came to Berlin, one of the first things I wanted to do was visit the famous places where the book takes place. The Zoo station, where Christiane used to prostitute herself and do heroin in the bathroom, is still there. But Berlin’s drug outlet has moved. One of the most popular traffic spots is the Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg. And, according to various rumors that circulate in the city, Christiane occasionally has a relapse and is seen there.
Unfortunately it seems that this is true. In 2015, Christiane ended up in the newspapers after getting into a fight. Reason, she would be beating her own dog. Two people intervened, in which Christiane bit a woman. Yes, she “bited”. And now the saddest part for anyone like me who is a fan of hers. Christiane would also have said several racist insults. At that time, she was arrested by the police.
A few years earlier, in 2013, she launched, together with journalist Sonja Vukovic, the book “My second life”, in which she says that she lives in a suburb in eastern Berlin, but that twice a week she takes the subway to Neukolln, an area which was once a kind of ghetto, but which is now popular. It was there that she “bited” the woman.
But Christiane is not just in Berlin physically. Last year, I took the subway and went to check out the neighborhood where she grew up, Gropiusstadt. There is the building where she grew up, the Gropius complex, described by her in the book as a dark, sad and green area. And that’s it. The building, an important architectural work, is a round complex, completely gray. It was winter, so the “all gray” tone that we imagined reading the book was very real. Could you feel the despair of Christiane F. And also to realize that she is still alive there?
