It's the early 1980s: Lothar Bremer, a teacher at a high school in Hürth near Cologne, is stuck in his life: his job is wearing him down, his marriage is showing signs of strain, and his daughter seems unreachable. Lothar wants to break out, goes on ramblings through Cologne, travels to Holland to a friend's vacation home, pursues intellectual projects, and seeks affairs. Longing, joie de vivre, and disappointment are closely intertwined—does he only discover himself through failure? How much freedom do we really need in our lives – and how much is possible? "Views from a Tethered Balloon" is the book Dieter Kühn was working on until a few days before his death in July 2015. The result is a vivid and detailed picture of the early 1980s in West Germany. The themes of that time – environmental destruction, large demonstrations, new relationship models, and changes in the working world – prove to be astonishingly relevant today.
