Käsebier Takes Berlin

Fake news in Weimar Berlin: a blistering classic satire of journalism, lies and celebrity, in English for the first time

In Berlin, 1930, the name Käsebier is on everyone's lips. A literal combination of the German words for "cheese" and "beer," it's an unglamorous name for an unglamorous man – a small-time crooner who performs nightly on a shabby stage for labourers, secretaries, and shopkeepers. Until the press shows up.

In the blink of an eye, this everyman is made a star: one who can sing songs for a troubled time. All the while, the journalists who catapulted Käsebier to fame watch the monstrous media machine churn in amazement – and are aghast at the demons they have unleashed.