Summary of Castle Gripsholm
“Castle Gripsholm: A Summer Story” tells the story of an idyllic summer holiday spent by Kurt, his girlfriend Lydia, and two visiting friends, at Gripsholm Castle in Sweden. However, near their holiday home lies a boarding school run by a sadistic headmaster. The protagonists try to help a little girl escape from the oppressive school environment to find a happier childhood.
Reasons to read Castle Gripsholm
“Castle Gripsholm: A Summer Story” is a poetic novella about long summer days, spent idly with friends, until the protagonists discover the mysterious boarding school nearby. The story serves as a metaphor for the darkening political climate in Europe around 1930. Kurt Tucholsky was one of the most prominent journalists of the German Weimar Republic and a fervent opponent of German militarism. When the Nazis came to power, his books were burned, and his German citizenship was revoked. He fled to Sweden where he died a few years later and was buried near Gripsholm Castle. “Castle Gripsholm: A Summer Story” is one of Tucholsky’s most cherished works, and has been adapted into film twice, first in 1963 and again in 2000.
Setting: Mariefred (Sweden)
Original title: Schloss Gripsholm: Eine Sommergeschichte
Year of publication: 1931
Nr of pages: 144
