The novel "Pigeons in the Grass" by Wolfgang Koeppen from 1951 describes a single day in Munich. Using a montage technique that was innovative at the time, Koeppen breathlessly assembled episodes and numerous figures, including two dark-skinned American soldiers, into a portrait of post-war society. At the time, critics praised his work, comparing it to James Joyce's novel of the century, Ulysses. Now "pigeons in the grass" is to become part of the Abi course at vocational high schools in Baden-Württemberg. But what some call a masterpiece, others see as an impertinence.

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