Christoph Kramer "Wolkenberührpunkt" x Harbour Front Literaturfestival Hamburg

With his first novel, Christoph Kramer achieved something that couldn’t be overlooked even outside the literary world: the 2014 World Cup champion became a bestselling author. “Das Leben fing im Sommer an” immediately debuted at No. 1 on the SPIEGEL bestseller list, is being adapted for the big screen, and is being staged in theaters. The fact that a former national soccer player, of all people, published a novel was the initial news. But the real surprise was that this novel wasn’t merely perceived as a celebrity project, but as a serious, precisely told coming-of-age story.

Now Kramer’s second novel is here: “Wolkenberührpunkt.” Once again, it’s not about soccer, but about the situation of a person facing a new beginning.

What do you do when something comes to an end and something new begins? To escape the looming emptiness, Christoph Kramer wrote his first book—a work of self-reflection. But what now? There are surprising moments, opportunities, and dangers. “Wolkenberührpunkt” tells of these moments of farewell and transition to something new.

One such surprising moment in Christoph Kramer’s second novel is a brief encounter with a man named Roman—an encounter that haunts him ever since. For Roman has a connection to a strange “point where the clouds touch”—an old mast where one can be so close to the sky that one can shout one’s wishes out into the world. “Wolkenberührpunkt” is a story about two lives that could hardly be more different: on one hand, the world champion; on the other, the boy who never had a home.

The author talks about this second novel, about the transition from his successful debut to this new book, and about writing after the end of his soccer career.

Christoph Kramer,born in Solingen in 1991, is a soccer player, TV analyst, podcaster, and author. He most recently played for Borussia Mönchengladbach, was a member of the national team from 2014 to 2016, and became a World Champion in 2014. With “Life Began in the Summer,” he became the first professional soccer player to publish a novel; the book was a sensational success.