University of Berlin

The University of Berlin is named in the book’s closing biographical note as an institution where Bernhard Schlink was a professor of law. The brief reference places the university within the account of Schlink’s legal and literary career; it does not describe its history, organization, or role in the plot.

Schlink’s Academic Career

The note identifies Schlink as a professor of law at the University of Berlin and also as a practicing judge. It presents these legal roles alongside his work as the author of several prize-winning crime novels, without specifying dates of appointment or particular duties at the university.

Relation to the Novel

The university is not a setting for the narrative events described in the book. Its significance here is biographical: Schlink’s stated academic and judicial professions provide context for a novel centrally concerned with trials, evidence, culpability, and the limits of legal judgment. The note establishes that professional background but does not claim that any particular episode or argument in the novel derives directly from his university work.