lit.eifel — Reading Norbert Scheuer in Nettersheim

The Eifel as a Literary Landscape

The Eifel is more than a scenic travel destination — it is a literary landscape. Writers such as Heinrich Böll, Jakob Kneip, Hans Mommsen, and, in the younger generation, Norbert Scheuer have immortalized the region in their novels: its tranquility, its war wounds, its volcanic craters, its small village communities between Cologne, Aachen, and Belgium. The lit.eifel festival leverages this literary connection — it brings regional and national authors to extraordinary locations in the Eifel region, transforming readings into events with a scenic connection.

lit.eifel — The Festival

lit.eifel is a series of readings and literary events spread over several months. From April to November, the festival moves between venues — from Roetgen to Blankenheim and Bad Münstereifel, and on to Nettersheim, Kall, and Nideggen. In each edition, prominent German authors read from their works: in 2026, this includes Carsten Henn (Sonnenaufgang Nr. 5), Pierre Jarawan (Frau im Mond), Christoph Hein (Das Narrenschiff), Harald Welzer (Das Haus der Gefühle), Kai Meyer (Das Antiquariat am alten Friedhof), and Frank Goosen (Lovely Rita).

Norbert Scheuer in Nettersheim

On Friday, October 9, 2026, Norbert Scheuer will read from his novel „Holunderholz" in Nettersheim. Scheuer (born 1951) lives in the Eifel village of Kall and has been shaping the literary image of the Eifel since the 1990s: Flussabwärts (1993), Der Steinesammler (1999), Überm Rauschen (2009) — the latter two were nominated for the German Book Prize. With Winterbienen (2019), he also reached an international audience; the book was translated into several languages and shaped the perception of the Eifel as a setting for morally complex stories during World War II.

Nettersheim — A Small Town with Festival Connections

Nettersheim is a municipality with just under 7,000 inhabitants in the Euskirchen district of North Rhine-Westphalia — right on the border of the Eifel, with the Roman Matronae town of Marcomagus as an archaeological gem. The North Eifel Nature Park begins at the edge of the town. Readings in such small-town settings — with a small audience, local roots, and without the media pressure of a big-city reading — are the hallmark of lit.eifel.

Literary Festival with Atmosphere

The series also includes other special events: the 13th Eifel Youth Literature Prize on the theme „Hoffen & Träumen" (Hoping & Dreaming), a Poetry Evening AKZENTE: At the Pulse of Literature on October 22, and the Club of Dead Eifel Poets on November 5 with Katia Franke, Ralf Kramp, and Manni Lang — all central components of the Eifel literary scene.