Spiritual impulses for peaceful moments of inner contemplation.

For almost thirty years, he has been a monk at Stift Heiligenkreuz. But if you think the strict monastery regimen of prayer and work has detached Father Karl Wallner from the world, think again! His many tasks are truly a full-time job. He is a university teacher and counsels teenagers, works as the successful PR head of the monastery and is a best-selling author. Father Karl knows how difficult it is to keep an inner balance and stay calm. With his new book he wants to help those in need of a daily moment of inner peace. His “seven times seven thoughts” inspire self-reflection; his spiritual impulses encourage us to pause. Father Karl invites us to reflect on moments of togetherness and discover the power of Christian rituals. A companion for any season for all those seeking a daily source of energy.

Mit einem Nachwort von Karl-Markus Gauß

Come on, then! Stay right there! Keep still now! Life on a hill-farm, a country childhood: eleven years of servitude, fear and humiliation. Only then does Holl find the strength and the courage to break free and leave his father’s farm, to set out on a new life fit for a human being.

Difficult times: the personal side of the great Physicist

When Werner Heisenberg first met Elisabeth Schumacher in 1937 he was 35 years old and had been a professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Leipzig for ten years. In 1932 he had received the Nobel Prize. But he wasn’t doing so well: He was lonely and the political situation and ensuing exodus of German scientists was a heavy weight on his chest. He was attacked as the “White Jew” because he taught Einstein’s theory of relativity. Only two weeks after meeting the couple got engaged, a few months later they were married. Shortly after the war broke out, Heisenberg was asked to join the “Uranium Project”, the German nuclear energy project – from then on he barely saw his young family for years. The exchange of letters shows his heartfelt efforts to share a life in spite of the many obstacles and large distance separating him from his family. The letters are supplemented with previously unpublished dairy entries from the last days of the war. It is the touching testimony of a time period where he sought to preserve a personal emotional retreat.

Youths in resistance: the “Schlurfs”, their music and lifestyle.

Whoever refused to join the Nazi lock-step had to march to a different drummer. This book tells the story of a nearly forgotten rebellion: During the 1930s and 1940s thousands of teenagers made the decision for a lifestyle that was the absolute opposite of the ideals propagated by Nazi ideology. With their love of Swing and Jazz as well as their provocative clothing style these teenagers opposed the regime’s rhythm and chose a path of civil disobedience that lasted well beyond 1945. Many had to pay a high price for their resistance: they were sent to youth concentration camps, were deployed to the front or murdered. The authors have interviewed contemporary witnesses from Austria, Germany, France and the Czech Republic and tell the fascinating story of the “Schlurfs” – a teenage subculture whose protest through music and style triggered extreme counter-reactions.

Searching for the molecule of life

What is a human? Every person would like to know what or who he or she is. In her fascinating search for the molecule of life the biochemist Renée Schroeder has made groundbreaking discoveries. In her search for answers she does not hesitate to question the possibilities of genetics and in the dispute between belief and science clearly positions herself in favor of a society based on knowledge. In all this, she is never afraid addressing on taboos. The question of the origin of life leads Schroeder far beyond the boundaries of her own scientific field and towards fundamental issues of being. Where do we come from, where are we going? How does evolution work and what role does chance play? Renée Schroeder’s undogmatic approach to the boundaries of our perception opens the door to a new way of thinking and new perspectives. In this book the passionate scientist explains what applied bioethics is and what the hen-egg question means for our future, all while guiding us through the wonderful world of molecules.

From goddess to mouse hunter, from witches’ pet to queen of our home: a feline trip through the centuries.

Adored as a god in ancient Egypt, cats traveled the spheres of the known world on ship and on their four paws. They were at home in the libraries and kitchens of monasteries, roamed through backyards and allies, slept in royal beds, were useful against mice and served as muses. Humans have felt love, suspicion and hate towards cats. Their mysterious nature has raised superstitions, but has also been a source of inspiration. It was always artists, most of all writers who were on the cat’s side. Thus the history of the cat is also one of the arts, a cultural history, the history of humankind. Cats have come a long way and this book traces the steps: from early times all the way to the snuggly sofa of today.

The philosopher and author Peter Bieri aka Pascal Mercier explores central questions of human existence.

We all want to determine our own lives. Our dignity and happiness depend on it. What exactly does that mean? Our thoughts, feelings and actions are based on the circumstances of our life stories. What does it mean to be able to change our lives instead of just letting life happen to us? What role does self-awareness play in all this? When do others help the process of self-determination and when do they become obstacles? How are self-determination and cultural identity connected? And what role can literature play in all this? Bieris contemplations in this book are a sequel to his observations in “Handwerk der Freiheit” (2001).

Sharp, humorous and ironically witty stories about women’s daily lives surrounded by fellow humans, men and children.

Being a woman is not a sport, much less an Olympic discipline, but it makes you sweat just as much. Constantly juggling household chores and relationships, mastering married life and raising kids can make women run out of the breath they need for laughing. Because no problem that you face when handling the daily hustle and bustle of family life is so serious that it couldn’t be solved with a bit of humor. Christine Nöstlinger proves this in her own exceptional style, full of wit and composure, with a lovingly ironic view on life and the big and little challenges it holds. This book is a collection of her best columns offering advice and comfort for every life situation.

Friend of famous men, wife of the misogynist: the biography of a wild bohemian life

She was married to August Strindberg, had a son with Franz Wedekind, shared the same fate as her “sister” Franziska zu Reventlow and was closely tied to famous men such as Arthur Schnitzler and Karl Kraus. She came from a good Viennese family, was witty and eccentric. In turn of the century Berlin she enjoyed life to the fullest while working as a feature journalist. One of the stars of the scene at the time was August Strindberg, the scandalous Swedish author. The two got married, but their relationship was full of drama and soon failed. The rest of her life was equally dramatic as she moved back and forth between Paris, London and New York. Before her death in Salzburg in 1943, Frida Strindberg published memoirs about her time with Strindberg – “a book without pauses” as Knut Hamsun “delightedly” notes. The same can be said of this first German biography of Frida Strindberg. In texts, photographs and moving personal accounts by Strindberg, we learn more about the eventful and turbulent life of a woman who spared no one, least of all herself.

This book will knock you off your feet with its humor, quick pace, intelligence and loads of emotion.

“So, no sex, no god, no dreams” – otherwise Lu will talk about anything. She tells her parents that she’s going to kickboxing camp for two weeks. Actually, she has decided to take some time off and rents a room in a Bed and Breakfast called “Zur schönen Gegenwart” (the beautiful now). Lu is 16 and she doesn’t have a story, not a real one, not yet. But she can talk like others breathe. In the B’n’B she meets Tulpe Valentin, an old author who has written eight novels, but finished the last one years ago. She thinks she has left her life behind along with her writing. The time off that Valentin and her ill B’n’B neighbor are taking is more like waiting for the right moment to give up. “A punch hurts less if you see it coming.” But then Lu comes along and starts talking and Valentin listens and writes it all down – it’s her last novel, because she sees life right in front of her. It’s not her own, but another life is continuing.