It was during my trip to the Leipzig Book fair that I came up with the idea of travelling to every Bundesland. So that’s when I consciously set about travelling to those I had not been too before, As I was in Leipzig, Saxony-Anhalt was only 30 minutes away. What literary landmarks were there in reaching distance?

How about the dilapidated East German flats in Halle-Neustadt, which are the main location in David Young’s Stasi Wolf? Just the ticket!

I tell you literary tourism takes you to some very strange places ….

The centre of Halle itself was glorious, although I only had a time for a quick wander and a multi-coloured iced (?) coffee before heading back to Leipzig. So this was a short but sweet visit to Saxony-Anhalt. I do want to go back some time – I envisage wandering around the Harz with Heinrich Heine as my companion, and staying overnight at the Bauhaus in Dessau.

I want to read more from the state too. I could have got that organised if I’d started my German Romanticism project earlier with Novalis, Wilhelm Müller and Zschokke all having been born in the area, respectively at Wiederstedt, Dessau and Magdeburg. Although the latter became a Swiss citizen, so I probably can’t count him.