The Dallas Goethe Institut will host author Ute von Hardenberg at Christ Lutheran Church in University Park on Saturday, Feb. 21, offering attendees an opportunity to experience, through the words of its writer, a story that time refused to erase.
Born into an aristocratic family, Ute’s early life was shaped by tradition and wealth — an existence dramatically altered by the outbreak of war.
“The women had one night to pack. Silver cutlery and fine china were ignored, as were spring and summer wear,” she writes, recalling the cold February night in 1945 when the family abandoned everything they held dear and fled the approaching Russian forces.
Years later, a chance meeting with an exchange student from Indiana aboard a train bound for the Orient again changed the author’s trajectory.
“With joyful expectancy and early morning brightness the Queen Mary sailed toward a new shore … the open sea with no heavy squalls and a clear sky had brought a calm. She resolved to sink roots into the unknown soil,” she writes of the newlywed couple’s passage into New York in 1962.
The book considers how stories are carried through families, how the past informs the present, and why the legacies we inherit — and leave behind — deserve to be told. Even life’s quieter journeys — cross-country moves, professional highs and lows, parenting and grandparenting, youth and aging — are intricately woven into a narrative that resonates across generations.
A writer from an early age, Ute’s first story was published in 1977. The 85-year-old remains a prolific and deeply creative force, her literary and artistic publications reflecting a life lived fully and attentively, with curiosity and compassion.
The afternoon will feature an intimate conversation and a reading from her newly published novel, Time Did It, offering insight into an author whose life and writing reflects the enduring power of connection across time. The event is open to the public and will take place on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 3001 Lovers Lane.
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