I Loved a German

What happens when you think you have fallen in love with a woman, but it turns out that you love her grandfather instead?

A. H. Tammsaare’s I Loved a German is a gripping love story, in which the classic love triangle takes a very untraditional form. The plot is centered around a young Estonian university student who falls in love with a young Baltic German woman. The Baltic Germans have lost their former aristocratic position in society since Estonia declared its independence. The young German earns her keep as a tutor for an Estonian family, and is not economically well-off. The young man, Oskar, starts courting the girl frivolously, but then falls head-over-heels in love with her.

Before long, the prejudice that an Estonian and a Baltic German are of socially unequal standings starts to stalk the couple. When Oskar goes to ask Erika’s grandfather — a former manor lord — for the girl’s hand, the meeting leaves a deep impression on his soul. All of a sudden, Oskar finds himself wondering if perhaps he doesn’t love the woman in Erika, but rather her grandfather; meaning, her noble descent. Perhaps the “slave’s blood” of farmhands who had been in the service of Baltic Germans for centuries is manifested in his love, instead?

Does love depend solely upon the emotions of two young individuals, or are their origins, their social and cultural background actually the deciding factor?