Book Fifteen

Sperrstunde

2033

A photograph of five young men in winter overcoats seen from behind at a snow-covered stone parapet at sunrise, one in a green felt hat and one with a sheet of paper under his hand, looking out over the bare trees of a park and a wide snowy city of roofs, spires, domes and smoking chimneys to a low gold sun, beside the dark cast-iron Gothic spire of a monument topped by an iron cross. Crown on the Potomac Sperrstunde Book Fifteen 2033

January 2033. The German Emperor is nineteen today, and for the first time in his life he has written his own programme: on Neues Palais paper, timed to the minute, from the official birthday dinner at seven to sunrise over Berlin. At twenty to ten he takes his cousin the King, Theo, Jack and Lukas out through the old kitchen tunnel, and loses both their protection details at once.

Sperrstunde follows one night in Potsdam and Berlin through the eyes of an Emperor nobody recognises: a King everybody does, who is bought a drink in every bar and still has no ID; a boy from Gloucestershire looking for a last call in a city that has never had a closing time; two protection officers who have done this before; and, at sunrise on the Kreuzberg, a decision.

Each chapter opens with a short extract from the Universal Register, the encyclopedia of the world the book is set in. The extracts are quoted from the Register as it stands; the chapters show what happened in the rooms it was not in.

Begin reading: Chapter One, The Timetable → Characters

Part One: Potsdam (18 January 2033)

  1. 1 The Timetable Alexander I. 14 min.
  2. 2 The Birthday Dinner Alexander I. 13 min.
  3. 3 The Tunnel Alexander I. 13 min.
  4. 4 The Meierei Alexander I. 13 min.
  5. 5 The S7 Alexander I. 13 min.

Part Two: Berlin (18 and 19 January 2033)

  1. 6 The Last Instance Alexander I. 13 min.
  2. 7 Alexanderplatz Alexander I. 12 min.
  3. 8 Old Allies Alexander I. 12 min.
  4. 9 Clärchens Alexander I. 18 min.
  5. 10 What Comes Next Alexander I. 18 min.

Part Three: Sunrise (19 January 2033)

  1. 11 The Door Alexander I. 17 min.
  2. 12 The Späti Alexander I. 17 min.
  3. 13 Caught, Nearly Alexander I. 15 min.
  4. 14 The Kreuzberg Alexander I. 18 min.
  5. 15 Sperrstunde Alexander I. 19 min.
  6. 16 Breakfast Alexander I. 20 min.