Kindle books can also be viewed using the software for Windows, Mac, or even with iPad and Android apps, so if you are happy with the restrictions, then you could install one of these and read the book that way and save on the price.  Of course, that also opens up a whole range of other books for you as well, as many classic books are available for the Kindle reading software for free.

Here are the links to the Amazon stores where the book is listed:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.de
• Amazon.fr
• Amazon.es
• Amazon.it

(Thanks to Ben Curtis for his guide on how to publish to the Kindle which was a great help!)

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• How to write a German CV

Well now you can read a sample of the book on-line, all you have to do is “Like” the author’s Facebook page.

Click here to go to Wolfgang Lippert’s Facebook page

Once you have clicked on “Like”, or “Gefällt mir”, the sample text (called “Leseprobe” in German) will be in the “Willkommen” tab.

And if you like what you read, then please use one of the links below to buy the book on-line – yes, it’s even available in the UK through Amazon!

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.de

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.co.uk

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Lippi-Bekenntnisse – a different look at life in the GDR
• Störtebeker Festspiele – Open-Air Theatre on Rügen

I had only been living in Germany for a year and although I was aware of the significance of whose computer I was looking at in terms of how important the customer was for my employer, only recently have I discovered the significance of the person behind it for the former East Germany’s show business industry.  This I have to thank to his autobiography Lippi-Bekenntnisse.

Rather than being just another autobiography of a German celebrity, Lippi-Bekenntnisse gives an inside look into the way that the entertainment business worked in the GDR from someone who was part of it in quite a unique way.  Reading it made me realise how little I know about that part of Germany’s history.

When I was studying German in the 1990s re-unification had only just taken place.  I had a lecturer who was a specialist for the GDR and whose course on the country I took.  However on reflection, I think that we learnt a lot about the politics and maybe the economy of the country.  At least, we probably learnt whatever was known about it at that time as far as Universities in the UK were concerned.

Only later, since I have been living in Germany, have I learnt more about the GDR’s culture like Ost-Ampelmännchen (East German traffic lights), the Sandmännchen, or about sporting events like the 1974 World Cup match between East and West Germany (which incidentally the East won 1-0).

Through Lippi-Bekenntnisse I have now learnt about music groups like the Puhdys and television shows like Glück muß man haben.

But I have also learnt more about the bureaucracy of the GDR, such as the occupation “Staatlich anerkannter Moderator” (official approved presenter), and that it was even possible for East German presenters and singers to travel to the West to perform – with sufficient permission – and how the payment for such performances worked.

Wolfgang – Lippi to his fans, hence the title of the book – talks about how difficult it was to get that permission, but also about simple things like having his first autograph cards printed.  Before bringing the story up to the present day, he also talks about where he was on the night that the Berlin Wall came down – and it wasn’t in Berlin!

Singing the part of Abellin during the Störtebeker Festspiele 2011

The years after re-unification only have a small part to play in the book, which is a shame on the one hand, because I would have liked to have read more about that time as well.  But the fact that three quarters of the it takes place during the days of the GDR is actually what makes the book so appealing, not just for fans, but for anyone interested in or even studying that part of Germany’s history.

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.de

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.co.uk

Read a sample on Facebook

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• A sample of “Lippi-Bekenntnisse”
• The night the Wall came down
• The GDR Transcript Pack

Arriving in good time, we were somewhat surprised to find out that we should have arranged tickets in advance, as there had been no mention of this on the website where we had read about it, but luckily we were still able to get in at the last minute.

Apart from this small hiccup, everything was well organised, with a warm area at the front for the children to sit on, and chairs further back for the parents.

Kiki Kufenflitzer gets her name from the ice skates that she wears all day, as “Kufen” refers to the blades.  She lives in a country called “Nordland”, which is covered in ice all year round, making ice skates the perfect way of getting around.  But one day, the ice crystal that keeps Nordland frozen gets stolen, and things start to melt, leading to Kiki’s adventure to recover it.

Frau Szewczenko read a chapter from the book, and then offered to sign autographs and have photos taken with the children.  And unlike other events that I have been at, she took time for every child – not just those who had bought the book.

My daughter not only joined the queue and talked to her about her ice skating lessons, she proceeded to perform one of her skating exercises – much to the delight of the press photographers.

We very much enjoyed our trip to Heddesheim and the public reading, and now look forward to reading the rest of the book.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Bad Homburg Christmas Market
• 10 Things to do in Frankfurt in Winter
• Ice Skating in Frankfurt

In the end, I wrote to 75 of them.  I sent a cover letter explaining that I was looking for a 12 month placement as part of my degree course and included a my CV (that’s the resumé for my American readers!)

A few never responded.  Others wrote back thanking me for my interest, but saying they could not offer me a placement in their company.  However one did invite me to an interview at Gatwick airport, and the following year I started work at the German branch of Psion.

Knowing what I do now about applying for jobs in Germany, I probably made a few mistakes with my CV.  If not in the content, at least in the presentation.  Although, of course, word processing back then was nothing compared to the possibilities available now.  So not only have I learnt a lot in the last 18 years, but the technology available to applicants has changed as well.

Then when I first arrived in Germany to work here permanently, I switched sides.  I became the employer.  I was the person reading the CVs and deciding who to invite for an interview.

Eventually I started advising second year undergraduates on the process of finding and applying for a placement in Germany, and at this point all those years of experience came into place.

“You should write a book” one of them said.  And now I have.

“How to write a German CV” is an e-book about exactly that – how to write the all-important German CV.  It is a step-by-step guide which takes you through the process of writing your CV, or resumé, in a style that German employers expect.

Because one of the most important things that I have learnt, is that the German CVs are considerably different to the ones that you write in the UK or US.  Things that are the norm there, are just not done here.  Other things that a German employer will expect, may not even be allowed in other countries.

I’ve explained all of this in the e-book.  To find out more, click here.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• How to write a German CV – now on Kindle