Deutscher Mondschein

by Wilhelm Raabe

"Deutscher Mondschein" by Wilhelm Raabe is a novella written in early 1872 and published in 1873. A vacationing jurist encounters his colleague Löhnefinke, a Prussian judge who inexplicably declares the moon his mortal enemy. Through persistent questioning, the narrator uncovers a strange tale linking Löhnefinke's lunar hatred to the 1848 revolution, suppressed poetry, and a life of excessive conformity. What drives a respectable judge to madness? The answer lies in the consequences of political turmoil and the dangerous repression of one's true nature.