Die Wolke
1987 novel by Gudrun Pausewang
Die Wolke (lit. '"The Cloud"') is a German novel for young adults by German author Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987. The story was written after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), with a 14-year-old girl having to deal with the consequences of a fictional similar disaster in Germany. It was translated into English by Patricia Crampton, published in 1997, as Fall-Out. Die Wolke, which received several awards, became a popular book for reading in class and was adapted for film and stage, has been regarded as Pausewang's signature work.
The book has been credited with shaping opposition to nuclear power in Germany.
History
Pausewang wrote the novel Die Wolke in 1987, after the Chernobyl disaster when nuclear fallout rained down on much of Europe. She used information that the organisation "Ärzte gegen den Atomtod" (Physicians against nuclear death) had published at the end of the 1970s.
The novel was adapted as a film in 2006.
Pausewang wrote in 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, that she was determined to take her readers seriously regardless of age, and she wanted to warn of dangers of her time. Sales of Die Wolke surged again on that occasion.
“Die Wolke” enters the record as 1987 novel by Gudrun Pausewang. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Wolke, novel and Gudrun can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Die Wolke” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Wolke, novel and Gudrun provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q661565. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987, 1986, 1997 and 2006.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Die Wolke”, its source revision and the description used here.
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Die Wolke”?
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This entry incorporates text from “Die Wolke” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.