Strong start to German Christmas boosted by Hitler title

Christmas sales are picking up in Germany, with double-digit sales growth for the second week running, helped by a darkly satirical novel about Hitler returning to modern day Germany.

According to the latest figures compiled by the trade paper Buchreport, in the week ending 7th December, printed book sales jumped 14% on the same week in 2011, following a rise of 11% the previous week.

Booksellers are hoping the strong Christmas will improve the overall picture for 2012, with the German market down slightly (0.6%) to just under €9bn through 11 months.

This year’s run-up to Christmas is more than ever characterised by uncertainty how and if bricks and mortar booksellers will hold steady against online competition and inroads into bookselling made by non-traditional retailers. Another worry for booksellers is that the German holiday season—which is traditionally defined by the four Sundays before
Christmas Eve—has five fewer shopping days than 2011.

Serious shopping usually starts mid-week before the first Sunday, with the four Saturdays being the all important yardstick of the season’s economic well-being. German shoppers have less time to do their Christmas shopping than in the UK. Shops don’t usually open on Sundays and close by 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

The must-have book of the season and leading the charts is Er ist wieder da [He’s Back] by little-known German author Timur Vermes, a clever book full of edgy humour about Hitler waking from the dead in Berlin in spring 2011 and coming to grips with the new Germany.

Vermes' publisher Eichborn reports 250,000 copies in print and has already sold translations rights into 17 territories. English world rights have been snatched up by Christopher MacLehose at Quercus.