Magda

Magda is an elderly, chain-smoking regular at the Elbschlosskeller, where she sits in a familiar corner with her husband, Willi. Her recurring terror that she has been contaminated by radiation leaves her vulnerable to panic, but Herbert responds with a makeshift treatment that comforts her. Through Magda, the bar appears not only as a place of drinking but as an informal refuge for its old, ill, and confused patrons.

Marriage and Life at the Bar

Magda and Willi have been married for so long that neither can say exactly how long. Their last concrete marker is a silver wedding anniversary in a year they can no longer recall. They missed the moment when they might have separated, and now, as the narration puts it, it feels too late. They sit together in their customary corner, both described as weighed down by age and habit.

Willi has cancer and takes morphine; his doctor has forbidden him alcohol. He dismisses the restriction and clings to the belief that his illness was only a bad dream, encouraged by a week without symptoms. The doctor has warned that the morphine will eventually fail to control the pain. Magda’s own fears unfold alongside this approaching crisis, making their shared place at the bar a fragile routine rather than a secure escape from illness.

Fear and Herbert’s Improvised Care

Every few weeks, Magda becomes afraid that radioactive rays are poisoning her. On one occasion, in her distress, she went after two Norwegian sailors. One lifted her at arm’s length and let her struggle until Herbert stopped the humiliating scene. He gently took her by the hand and led her to the office, where an old infrared lamp stood. He switched it on, seated her in front of it, and left her alone.

Half an hour later, Magda was convinced that the red light had drawn the radiation out of her body, neutralized it, or otherwise made it harmless. The account does not present the lamp as a real medical remedy; its effect is the reassurance Magda finds in it. Herbert repeats the expedient afterward because it works for her. His care also extends beyond this episode: he sometimes helps patrons with tax returns, doctor visits, and problems with public offices. That practical attention helps explain why the people at the bar have taken him to their hearts.

An Uncertain Future

When Willi dies, Magda expects to sit with the Säberalmas. The statement offers no further account of what becomes of her, but it sets her future against the loss already hanging over the couple. Elsewhere in the bar, Herta sits down beside Magda and Willi without asking permission, a small sign of how their corner belongs to the regulars’ shared social world. Magda’s story remains spare: illness, an old fear temporarily quieted, and the prospect of continuing among familiar people after her husband is gone.