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BASF Lecture October 2023 [1]

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Date: 2023-10 

In 1927, Harold Nicolson was posted to Berlin as a diplomat, much to the despair of his wife, Vita Sackville-West. Already a fluent German speaker, Harold found the politics ‘enthralling’. Vita couldn’t stand diplomatic life and found Berlin ‘dreary’. Nevertheless, she made friends with a circle of liberated, creative women and had an affair with one of them, the American-German writer Margaret Goldsmith. Vita also entered a deeply creative period of her own, translating the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, and starting work on her bestselling novel The Edwardians. After leaving Berlin, Harold entered politics and became known as an expert on Germany. He spoke out powerfully against appeasement and used his political connections to help German friends who were the victims of early Nazi oppression.

Kathryn Batchelor is Professor of Translation Studies at UCL and co-curated the exhibition ‘Affairs in Berlin: Harold in Germany, Vita in Love’, which ran from September 2022 to February 2023 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden (National Trust).

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[1] Url: https://theconversation.com/uk/events/harold-nicolson-and-vita-sackville-west-in-1920s-berlin-politics-and-love-affairs-12631

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