Momo

by Michael Ende

Momo lives on the outskirts of the city in a very old theater. The headstrong child has a special gift. She listens to everyone who visits her and gives them time. This alone enables her to comfort people, settle disputes and give her friends, the tourist guide Gigi or the street sweeper Beppo, the feeling that they have their rightful place in the world. But suddenly people stop visiting Momo. The Gray Lords of the Time Savings Bank have started to wring time out of people in the city. Everyone now wants to save time. Momo seems to be the only one who can defend herself against the time thieves. Together with the turtle Cassiopeia and the guardian of time, Master Hora, she takes on the difficult task of freeing the people from the Grey Lords.

Michael Ende's "strange story of the time thieves and the child who brought back the stolen time" was published 50 years ago. Long before the advent of smartphones and social media, Ende's fairytale novel depicts a society dominated by time pressure, stress and the need for constant self-optimization, which can only be healed through the power of interpersonal encounters.