"The Time of Times" by Georg Steinweh

A Lake Constance Story in Three Parts: The Occasional Time – The Past Time – The Present Time

The absent Fred inherits his parents' house by Lake Constance. A property speculator pressures him, while an old love supports him. The invention of his deceased father leads him to Constance around 1415, where he works as a cook in a brothel. Just before he is burned as a witch, the reformed egoist finds his way back and makes new travel plans.

The Story
Fred, an egoist and cynic throughout his life, inherits his parents' house and returns after 18 years to the Höri peninsula by Lake Constance. His parents were fishermen; his mother drowned when he was a child. Renie, a Swiss real estate speculator, wants to buy his very attractive property. To achieve this, she even begins an affair with him, which develops into love.

In a sleepwalking state, he discovers his father's hidden chemistry lab and, through a series of coincidences, manages to complete his father's brilliant invention. Using a messenger substance and the diving equipment left behind, he embarks on a time travel journey to Constance around 1415. The city is bursting at the seams with 70,000 people due to the council. Fred's profession as a cook gives him temporary access to this foreign world in the Middle Ages. His friendship with the poor street boy Paul helps Fred develop into an empathetic person. He begins to have nightmares, fearing he will end up like Hus on the stake.

Back in the present, he becomes despondent and nearly fails to process all that he has experienced in order to draw the right conclusions for his house, his future, and his love. He reconsiders his true mission...

The Author
Georg Steinweh (born 1956) originally hails from Upper Franconia and was a mini-golf operator, a Shakespeare fan, and a motorcycle mechanic during his school years. After studying film in Berlin, he moved to Stuttgart, started a family, and worked for 40 years in television at SDR/SWR. From there, he produced image films, documentaries, operas, and SWR crime dramas worldwide. In the last ten years of his career, he headed the camera department in Stuttgart. In between, he told his three children bedtime stories he invented, which he eventually wrote down. The children have left home, but his imagination cannot be stopped. Since 2020, he has been living with his wife in Kladow and feels like he is constantly on vacation. So far, three Berber crime novels, a youth fantasy novel, and a Lake Constance story have been published. More information can be found at www.georg-steinweh.de.