Anna is a student attending an art school in Berlin. After a life drawing class she introduces herself to Marthe Müller, another student. They talk about how difficult it is to draw with the strict instructor, comparing him to a drill sergeant. Marthe has recently moved from Köln to Berlin and hasn’t any friends. The two women are a contrast. Anna’s hair is short and styled similarly to a man’s cut and she circumvents gender roles by wearing male clothing: trousers, suspenders, bow ties, vests, and shirts. Marthe’s hair is short though a feminine cut. She often wears dresses.
Anna invites Marthe to join her friends for one of their informal gatherings on the school’s rooftop. She tries her best to make Marthe feel welcome amongst her friends, all of whom are male, while they indulge in philosophical and political talk.
A few days later Anna visits Marthe at her boarding room. After learning Marthe hasn’t experienced any of Berlin’s nightlife she persuades her new friend to go out on the town that night. Anna is happy and smiling at the prospect. That night they attend an all women cabaret. Some of the performers are dressed in men’s clothing and one performer in particular catches their eyes because she was a nude model in their life drawing class. Later, Anna bursts into song as they walk home. Marthe confides a big secret to her new friend. She had given up art for eleven years and only began drawing again after learning her father had arranged a marriage for her. She refused and decided to attend art school.
Classes have ended for the Christmas holiday and Marthe is walking Anna and Erich, another classmate, to the train stationon their trips home. Marthe shocks them with the news that she’s decided to drop out of school. Anna is visibly shaken and calmed only when Marthe says she will find a job and stay in Berlin.
Anna is happy to return to Berlin after Christmas. She and Marthe are riding the tram and catching up on news. Anna talks about her frustration of being with her family and made to wear dresses, the idea of which makes Marthe laugh. Marthe holds Anna’s arm and nestles her head on Anna’s shoulder, an intimate moment that ends when Marthe talks of spending a good deal of time in the company of Kurt Severing, a man whom she met on the train when she first came to Berlin. Anna is noticeably crestfallen, and politely excuses herself for the evening when her stop arrives. Instead of returning to her boarding room, Anna walks to the banks of the Spree. Alone, she thinks of Marthe. “The smell of her hair unfastens something inside of me. A smile she’s never worn before carves it out and casts it away.” She removes a small bust she’d carved while away at home to be a gift for Anna, and throws it into the river. She instantly regrets the action and retrieves it.
A few weeks pass. Marthe arrives at Anna’s boarding house intending to walk with her to school. There’s quite a surprise waiting for Marthe when she opens the door to find Anna naked in bed with another woman. Anna cautions her friend to quickly close the door lest her landlords discover her and throw her out. Anna introduces the other woman as Trude, a clerk at the corner tobacconist who sold her some cigars. Marthe is visibly embarrassed but doesn’t say anything while Anna apologizes for forgetting their plans and playfully slaps Trude on her naked butt. Half-dressed, Anna offers with outstretched arms the small bust she’d made as a gift to Marthe, and then flirts with Trude.
A couple of months later and Marthe and her lover Kurt Severing are picnicking. Kurt asks if things between she and Anna are better, but she says they’re not. Marthe tells him about the morning when she found Anna with another woman, and Kurt calmly explains that Anna was in love with Marthe. She confesses their friendship had confused her. Kurt muses, “We do live in separate worlds, we boys and you girls. And then there’s the boys who want boys and the girls who want girls. One thing I love about this city is the way all of our different worlds rub shoulders every day.”
Please note that this entry doesn’t yet include events recounted in Berlin: City of Smoke, volume 2.
Amazon stocks Berlin: City of Stones and Berlin: City of Smoke with sample preview pages.
© Jason Lutes. Used without permission. Berlin is published by Drawn and Quarterly.
