Sebald’s Apocalyptic Vision

A voluntary emigrant from Germany to England, Sebald settled in East Anglia in 1970.  The Rings of Saturn, a book first published in German in 1995, recounts a long walk down the coast, from Somerleyton to Orford. Last year, the acclaimed theatre director Katie Mitchell put The Rings of Saturn or Die Ringe des Saturn on stage – not in England but in Cologne, Germany. This programme follows her as she takes her German actors to East Anglia to experience at first-hand the landscape in which Sebald was writing and walking. They explore a coastline which – as Sebald was acutely aware – looks out towards Germany, across what used to be known until the late 19th century as “the German Ocean”.

Produced by Isabel Sutton

Broadcast on 8th June 2013,