ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LESERAUM is a literary project exploring Russia, Ukraine, power, memory, identity, freedom, and the relationship between the individual and the state through books and literary essays.
The work is rooted in twenty-three years of living and working in Ukraine, shaped by the experience of annexation, displacement, and war.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for visiting.
I am neither a historian, nor a journalist, nor a political analyst. My work is an attempt to understand how people live through change, rupture, contradiction, and uncertainty.
I spent many of those years in Crimea. After the annexation in 2014, I moved to Kyiv, like many others who had lost their homes. In 2019, I left Ukraine with my family, largely for the sake of our children. Yet the feeling of uncertainty remained, together with the growing conviction that the worst was still to come.
The books published on this website grew out of those years. They are based on lived experience, observation, memory, and thousands of photographs collected over more than two decades.
I write because I have seen how quickly memories disappear and how easily reality can be replaced by narratives. These books are an attempt to preserve what happened—and what continues to happen. Perhaps they are also an attempt to better understand why.
Modern language models, including artificial intelligence, are occasionally used on LESERAUM as tools for language refinement, proofreading, and research. They have assisted in refining these texts, but they are not their author. I am.
Everything written here is rooted in years of personal experience, observation, and reflection. Artificial intelligence can help organize language—but it cannot live a human life.
The original work is published in German. Modern browsers can translate the complete website instantly for readers who wish to explore the full texts in English.
I take full responsibility for the content, perspective, and ideas expressed in these works.
BWJ
ABOUT THE BOOKS
What distinguishes this collection is the combination of personal experience and literary reflection. Each book explores different events and perspectives, yet all are connected by a common thread. Power, memory, identity, and freedom form the foundation of the entire work.
All books can be read online free of charge. This is a deliberate decision.
Before a book finds its permanent place, it should first find its readers.
Although the books can be read independently, they follow a shared intellectual journey. Readers wishing to begin at the beginning may start with Diffusion. Those interested in understanding Russia and the forces that shape it may wish to begin with Gravitation.
Or simply begin wherever your curiosity leads you.
DIFFUSION
Diffusion explores the first, almost invisible changes in individuals, relationships, and societies. It follows forces that shape events long before their consequences become visible and tells the story of my arrival in Ukraine as an Austrian and my gradual encounter with a different world.
EROSION
Erosion portrays a world that still appears stable. Through people, encounters, and everyday life in Ukraine, it reveals changes that had already begun long before most people recognized them. Its focus lies on the subtle shifts that often become visible only in retrospect.
ANNEXATION
In the spring of 2014, Crimea changed fundamentally within only a few weeks. I witnessed these events firsthand. Annexation follows them day by day, combining personal observation with the political and social developments of that period. It is the story of an annexation seen from within—a chronicle written in real time.
GRAVITATION
Gravitation is the central volume of the series.
Moving between observation, experience, and reflection, it explores the forces that shape individuals, societies, and states—often long before their consequences become visible. The book traces these forces through Russia, Ukraine, and the lives of ordinary people.
THE CLINIC
A novella set in a psychiatric institution in the future city of Donetsk. A European commissioner investigates complaints, unexplained deaths, and contradictory reports. The war is over. Yet within the corridors of the clinic, it seems never to have ended.
WAR
An excerpt from a collection of poems about war, loss, memory, and the consequences of violence. Written in the shadow of Russia’s war against Ukraine, these poems focus on the human stories behind historical events.
Topics:
Russia
Ukraine
Crimea
Annexation
War
Political Culture
Memory
Identity
Freedom
Literary Essays