Albert Ostermaier

A train, in the middle of the Orient on its way through the desert to the Persian oil fields of the British. In a special wagon: the travelling circus 'Notung': artists, fire-eaters, singers, musicians, clairvoyants, heartbreakers, wrapped in caftans. They play the story of the Nibelungen and travel as its heroes, Siegfried, King Gunther, Hagen or Brünhild. A juggler troupe, one thinks at first, but hidden under suitcases full of costumes, the whole train is full of weapons and explosives. For these Nibelungen heroes are disguised German officers, agents in 1915, in the middle of the First World War. Under the leadership of Captain Klein they are charged with the task of blowing up British oil wells in Persia, inciting Persian tribes to revolt and weakening the Empire considerably. Klein's Nibelungen Circus must perform surrounded by enemies. If the cover falls, their lives fall too.

Glut is based on a historical event. The author skilfully weaves the tale of the Nibelungen with an almost unknown chapter of German history. The train journey is an Orient Express journey of the craziest kind: full of anarchy, wit, political intrigue and false bottoms. For just as Captain Klein and his false heroes travel through the Orient in a grotesque travesty on a secret mission with an open outcome, the real Nibelungen were on their way from Burgundy to the court of King Etzel, where in the Nibelungenlied not only the common table awaits them at the end, but also their downfall. (Announcement Nibelungenfestspiele)