Pages 154-167




Page 154

154.12 Studentenheim
German: student residence or dorm

Page 156

156.18 the Judenschnautze
As Weisenburger notes, Pynchon probably means "Judenschnauze" here, but the term is more likely to mean "Jewish snout" (or nose) than "Jewish jaw." The term reflects Leni’s antisemitic stereotyping. See note at 159.38. Schnauze is a word for a canine face, so it might mean "Jewish mug" as well. It also denotes a manner of speech, as in "Er hat eine berliner Schnauze" ("He speaks the Berlin dialect").

Page 157

157.35 Gymnasium
A type of school in the German secondary education system, typically running grades 6-13. There is a heavy focus on academic study. Graduates take the Abitur exam and many go on to university.

Page 159

159.19 Niebelungen
Weisenburger takes his description of the film from Siegfried Kracauer’s From Caligari to Hitler, but overlooks a key point. It is no wonder that Pokler "missed Attila the Hun roaring in from the East to wipe out the Burgundians"; Attila never did roar in from the East! As Kracauer correctly describes the film’s ending, Attila does massacre the Burgundians, but only after inviting them to dinner and setting a hall on fire (prompted by the urgings of his wife, the wronged Kriemhild). Is the textual error Pokler’s, Leni’s, or Pynchon’s? Given that all the explicit German film references are to films by Fritz Lang and that few of those films were widely available (with the notable exception of Metropolis), we could suspect that Pynchon was working from secondary sources or his own memory of a Lang festival at which he, like Pokler, fell asleep. (Lang did appear at such a festival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1969, when Pynchon may have been living in the area.) Lang is a useful touchstone for Pynchon in this novel since almost all of his films (including such American movies as You Only Live Once and Scarlet Street) deal with characters trapped by an inexorable destiny. See note at 578.31. nibeldin.jpg (74051 bytes)

159.33 Die Frau im Mond
German: 'woman in the moon'; A science fiction silent film that premiered October 15, 1929. It is often considered to be one of the first "serious" science fiction films.It was written and directed by Fritz Lang, based on the novel Die Frau im Mond (1928, translated as The Rocket to the Moon during 1930) by his then-wife and collaborator Thea von Harbou. It was released in the USA as By Rocket to the Moon, and in the UK as Woman in the Moon.

159.38 the Jewish wolf Pflaumbaum
At this stage, for all her professed radicalism, Leni allows herself to be deluded by ethnic stereotyping. Notice her attraction to Rebecca because of her Otherness. Soon, though, Leni will be "Judaized" (219.41), even more so when she is sent to the Dora concentration camp. Of Pflaumbaum’s fate, see note at 582.05. Also see note at 474.39.

Page 160

160.11 T.H.
German: Technische Hochschule literally 'technical highschool', but actually at university level.

160.18 It may have been a quota film.
With the great influx of films from the United States to Europe between the wars, several film-producing countries, including Germany, enacted decrees that a certain number of films shown had to be of national origin. These "quota" films were often quick and shoddy productions made only to satisfy government demands so that the more profitable American films could still be shown.

Page 161

Justus Liebig
161.22 Kurt Mondaugen

Mondaugen was introduced as a character in the South-West Africa episodes of V., especially as the focal point of the chapter "Mondaugen’s Story." See note at 152.21.

161.34-35 true succession, Liebig to [ . . . ] Jamf
Picture of Justus Liebig (right)

Page 162

162.12 Wandervogel
German youth movement promoting a love of nature and the outdoors; see note here

162.15 kleinbürger
German: the lower middle class, translated from the French term petit bourgeoise, literally 'little citizen', noted for their small-minded conservative values.

162.18 Dom

162.20 Biedermeier
Refers to the historical period between the years 1815 and 1848, particularly in Germany and Central Europe. It is often used to denote the artistic styles that flourished then and that marked a contrast with the Romantic era which preceded it; mainly in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design. However, it can also be used, as it is here, to imply a petit-bourgeois conformity.

162.28 Bürgerlichkeit
German: the quality of being bourgeois

Page 163

163.20-21 Leni sang with the other children the charming anti-semitic street refrain of the time
The source of Leni’s initially racist attitudes lies here, in her youth.

Page 165

165.21 Herrenklub
German: gentlemen's club

Page 166

166.1-9 All right. Mauve [ . . . ]
For more on the history of this breakthrough in dye-making and organic chemistry, see Simon Garfield's Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World (New York: Norton, 2001).

Page 167

167.29-30 Heinz Rippenstoss
The name of the would-be Nazi wag is literally "poke in the ribs."
Seemingly a riff on "von Ribbentrop", Hitler's foreign minister, found guilty at Nuremberg and hung.

Beyond the Zero


Un Perm' au Casino Herman Goering


In the Zone


The Counterforce


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