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Island of longing for the Germans
When the punks came to Sylt
Sylt is the island of longing for many Germans. In her book “This one love will never end” the islander Susanne Matthiessen takes a look behind the facade of the holiday paradise.
© Jens Hogenkamp/ / Picture Alliance
Hundreds of thousands travel to Sylt every year to enjoy the sun, beach and wind. But how does mass tourism feel for the locals? In “This one love will never end” an islander remembers the 80s.
Why is?
In spring 2020, Sylt is suddenly deserted due to the corona lockdown, an unusual feeling for the islanders. Susanne Matthiessen was also born here and grew up here before moving out into the world and becoming a successful journalist. In “This one love will never end” she remembers her school days in Sylt and the last summer after graduating from high school.
In it, Matthiessen tells of social upheavals: How the idyllic North Sea island was overrun by mass tourism in the 1980s and also hit by a storm surge of the century and an environmental disaster. As finally, in 1988, the doctors stopped by, from whose anthem “Westerland” the title of this book was borrowed. And who brought thousands of punks in tow.
You learn a lot about what the ongoing boom is doing to nature and people. As much as Susanne Matthiessen loves her homeland, she doesn’t want to hide the downsides. This also includes a family history of abuse that has not been processed to this day.
“This one love will never end. A novel about a Sylt youth” by Susanne Matthiessen is available from Audible
© Audiobook Hamburg
Who wrote it?
Susanne Matthiessen lives in Berlin. But the author knows exactly what she is writing about: she was born on Sylt in 1963, in the North Sea Clinic directly behind the dunes. She lived on the North Sea island until she graduated from high school and has known the island and its people from an early age. Matthiesen is a journalist by profession and has worked for radio, television and online media. Among other things, she was editor-in-chief for Dunja Hayali and Sabine Christiansen. In 2020 her debut “Ozelot und Friesennerz” was released, in which she dealt with her Sylt childhood in the 70s.
Who reads?
The eight-hour audio book is spoken by the actress Julia Nachtmann, an experienced speaker. She does her job well, but when listening to the very personal text, one catches oneself again and again imagining that it is the author herself who is speaking here.
Who is the audio book for?
Anyone who expects a tasty Sylt novel that presents the North Sea island from the most beautiful sides and makes you want to go on vacation will have little joy with “This one love will never end”. However, if you want to know how mass tourism is changing an island and what that is doing to the people, you’ve come to the right place. The book is therefore not only recommended for Sylt connoisseurs, but for all people who travel consciously and go through the world with open eyes.
Available for download from Audible