Interview with Susanne Popp

Roman: Loreley – Die Frau am Fluss

Bestselling author Susanne Popp (“Die Teehändlerin”) takes us to the banks of the Rhine and the legendary rocks in the Romantic era. The beginnings of navigation on the Rhine and the Cologne-Düsseldorf river also play an important role in her new novel “Loreley – The Woman on the River”.

What is your book about?

The story centers on two young people, Juliane, who grows up on the Middle Rhine, and Johann from Knielingen near Karlsruhe on the Upper Rhine. Fate is not always kind to them and it takes time for them to get involved with each other. But even then, the past catches up with them. The mystery of Juliane’s origins is tragically intertwined with Johann’s dark secret. Romantic and exciting elements come together – and the whole thing is told against the historical Rhine backdrop of the first half of the 19th century.

What fascinates you about the Rhine?

I find everything about the Rhine fascinating. It is probably Germany’s most famous river, border river, international shipping route and object of romantic transfiguration. Heinrich Heine called the story of the Loreley “A fairy tale from ancient times”, and that was the beginning of a myth. Since then and to this day, the Rhine has also been a tourist attraction. Above all, however, this incredible river has had a decisive influence on nature and its surroundings over the millennia, until humans forced their will on it, at least in part, and changed its course. On the Middle Rhine, where my story is largely set, the landscape has changed much less than on the Upper Rhine, and I also find that fascinating. All those castles and customs stations that bear witness to the small statehood of times gone by. Not to mention the fact that I just love watching the ships go by.

How did you come across the scene?

The suggestion to make the Rhine the theme came from my husband. I liked the idea and started researching. Everywhere I looked, I discovered exciting stories. For example, the beginnings of shipping on the Rhine. In the novel, readers get to know Peter Merkens, for example, a Cologne merchant and co-founder of today’s Köln-Düsseldorfer Schiffahrtsgesellschaft. In the novel, his wife Elisabeth cultivates an unusual friendship with Juliane, which sets a whole series of events in motion. To depict the straightening of the Rhine, in another part of the novel I revive the first major construction site of the famous Baden engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla, who also makes his own appearance. The Rhine Romantics are also represented, for example in the form of Bettine von Arnim and Clemens Brentano.

What is your personal connection to the region?

I was born in Speyer am Rhein, grew up on the edge of the Palatinate Forest with a view of the Rhine plain, studied in Mainz and lived there for a long time. Even though I now live in Switzerland, I still consider the Rhine my home.

Reading with Susanne Popp on the KD nostalgia route

Sunday, 05.05. / RMS GOETHE, Salon Weimar
12.20 hrs departure St. Goar
12:50 hrs – 13:30 hrs reading

At 12.20 pm, the Goethe will cast off from St. Goar and sail along the Loreley rocks towards Bacharach. After the Goethe has passed the world-famous Loreley rock, Susanne Popp will read from her book. You only need a regular ticket for the boat trip from St. Goar to Bacharach, all further information will be provided on board. Alternatively, you can of course stay on board for longer.