Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Das fliegende Klassenzimmer” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Das fliegende Klassenzimmer

Erich Kästner,

Walter Trier (Illustrator)

4.20 · Rating details · 3,683 ratings · 175 reviews

Seit Jahren sind die Schüler des Internats Kirchberg und der benachbarten Realschule verfeindet. Beide Gruppen denken sich die verrücktesten Streiche aus, um die anderen zu ärgern. Als die Realschüler die Diktathefte der Gymnasiasten klauen und dabei auch noch einen Schüler gefangen nehmen, hört der Spaß allerdings auf!

Mit leiser Melancholie und warmem Humor erzählt Kästn ...more

Get A Copy

Hardcover, 176 pages

Published 2006 by Dressler Verlag (first published January 1st 1933)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Das fliegende Klassenzimmer, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Der Räuber Hotzenplotz by Otfried Preußler

German Childrens' Books in German

270 books — 112 voters

Best German Authors

524 books — 744 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.20 ·

Rating details

· 3,683 ratings · 175 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Das fliegende Klassenzimmer

Sep 07, 2015 Manny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: well-i-think-its-funny, children, german-and-dutch

There were two episodes in this German children's classic that really stayed with me. The first occurs early in the book. The narrator tells you about a little boy called Johnny, who was born in New York. His father is German and his mother is American, and they really don't get on. Mom leaves. And when Johnny is four, his father puts him on a boat to Hamburg, with a label round his neck on which he's written Johnny's name. He tells the Captain that Johnny's grandparents will meet him at the oth There were two episodes in this German children's classic that really stayed with me. The first occurs early in the book. The narrator tells you about a little boy called Johnny, who was born in New York. His father is German and his mother is American, and they really don't get on. Mom leaves. And when Johnny is four, his father puts him on a boat to Hamburg, with a label round his neck on which he's written Johnny's name. He tells the Captain that Johnny's grandparents will meet him at the other end. Everyone on board is very nice to the kid, especially the Captain, and when they get to Hamburg he makes a point of taking Johnny down to the arrivals hall to be sure he finds his grandparents. But they never turn up - not surprisingly, says the narrator, because they had been dead for several years. Johnny's father just wanted to get rid of him. The Captain, who's a kind and honorable man, adopts Johnny and arranges for him to attend the boarding school where most of the action takes place. But even though Johnny is brave and determined and does everything he can to look at life from the positive side, he never fully recovers from the awful thing that was done to him when he was just four years old.

The second episode takes place around the middle of the book. There's another boy at the school, called Uli. He's the smallest kid in the class and some of the nastier kids like to pick on him. One day, the teacher arrives and he finds that the bullies have put Uli in a trashcan and suspended it from the ceiling so that he can't get down. The teacher asks Uli's best friend, Matthias, why he didn't stop them. Matthias is really big and strong and usually looks after Uli.

"I couldn't," says Matthias, "there were too many of them."

"Well," says the teacher, "there's a sentence I'm going to ask all of you to write out five times." And he gives them the sentence, which in German is An allem Unfug, der passiert, sind nicht etwa nur die schuld, die ihn tun, sondern auch die, die ihn nicht verhindern; I would render this in English as "When bad things happen, it's not just the fault of the people who do them, but also the fault of the people who don't do anything to stop them." Then he tells them to get Uli down safely, and the whole class write out the sentence five times.

I've now read three of Erich Kästner's books, and it's clear that he had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He published this one early in 1933. A few months later, he was forced to watch while the Nazis publicly burned most of his works; unfortunately, not enough people tried to stop them. But after the war his books quickly returned, and I understand that German children are still growing up reading them.
______________________

When we were in Berlin last week, we visited the place where Kästner's books were burned. Thank you Matt for pointing out that it was directly opposite Humboldt-Universität.

...more

flag 91 likes · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2010 Manybooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, celebrations-rituals, school-story, erich-kastner, book-reviews, childrens-literature, favourites-read, four-seasons-winter

So yes, with novels that have been perennial favourites since childhood, I often find it both nigh impossible to in any way post a review that is for one adequately laudatory of either the author or his/her story (at least according to my own rather stringent criteria) and for two is in any manner remotely critical (even with regard to those textual parts that might in fact actually warrant this). And with this in mind, I have had my probably very favourite German language Christmas-themed child So yes, with novels that have been perennial favourites since childhood, I often find it both nigh impossible to in any way post a review that is for one adequately laudatory of either the author or his/her story (at least according to my own rather stringent criteria) and for two is in any manner remotely critical (even with regard to those textual parts that might in fact actually warrant this). And with this in mind, I have had my probably very favourite German language Christmas-themed children's classic, Erich Kästner's Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom) languishing as rated with five stars and on my favourites shelf but unreviewed for many years (even though I do tell myself every December that it is indeed high time to attempt a written review, to tell my Goodreads friends just how much I love this novel and how much Das fliegende Klassenzimmer has in fact meant to me over the years). And now, although it is indeed no longer December 2017 anymore, but early January 2018, I have finally decided to take the proverbial bull by its horns so to speak and to finally attempt a review of Das fliegende Klassenzimmer, of probably my favourite novel by Erich Kästner, period, and to not care or rather to attempt to not care whether my review is expansive and congratulatory enough and to also not be all that academically, intellectually bothered with regard to probably still being rather blind with regard to many of the potential issues with regard to datedness, gender stratification and the like (because well, for a novel that was originally penned in the 1930s, Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer actually remains surprisingly fresh, new and with attitudes and philosophies that are still both important and essential for not only children but also for adults).

Within the framework of a boarding school (an all boy's boarding school, of course, but really, the scenarios and issues shown within the pages of Das fliegende Klassenzimmer are in my opinion part and parcel to many school-themed stories, both uni-gender and co-educational, and really childhood in general), Erich Kästner portrays the importance of friendship, loyalty, overcoming personal fears and phobias and that remembering and yes also embracing one's childhood and one's past are essential for becoming a responsible and yes a likeable and respect-worthy adult (not to mention that while one is supposed to fight to master childhood trauma and problems, one also needs to remember it, to accept it and that it will always be a part of one's psyche and life, and that therefore, Johnny Trotz being abandoned by his father as a toddler will never leave him as a memory, and since he is a writer, will probably also make its way into his texts, his printed words, that Martin Thaler will always due to his family's issues with unjust unemployment and resultant poverty have a permanent sense of social justice and attempt to fight against what he perceives as injustice, just as universally loved teacher Dr. Bökh aka Justus has remembered how he suffered as a student at boarding school because his teachers were not particularly pleasant and approachable and has as a teacher striven to make himself someone whom his students can trust and turn to with their problems, with their both small and not so small problems and sadnesses). And really, Erich Kästner's glowingly positive depiction of Dr. Bökh has (I strongly believe) also been one of my main and lifelong career influences, for as an instructor of German at the college and university level, I have always and gladly first and foremost had my students and their intellectual welfare in mind, that they need to learn the material necessary as painlessly and in as easy to understand a fashion as possible, and that instructing with a fair and easily comprehensible approach is much more important and necessary than class averages and somehow keeping these in the so-called but to and for me rather artificial and silly Bell-Curve.

Absolutely and most highly recommended is Erich Kästner's Das fliegende Klassenzimmer, and if you have not yet encountered the novel either in its original German or in some of the (and yes, pretty well more than decent) English language translations (and I know there are also versions in French, Spanish etc.), do go and read it, either now, or as a Christmas read (treat) for December 2018 (and the only minor caveats I do have to give is that for one, there are indeed scenes of schoolyard fist and snowball fighting shown when the "Gymnasium" and the "Realschule" students duke it out and for two, cigarette smoking is unfortunately both featured and not really condemned all that much, but that is in fact more a sign of the times, as in the 1930s, cigarette smoking was generally still considered as not all that problematic and even often seen as a right of passage from childhood to being a bit more mature). ...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Jan-Maat added it

Shelves: 20th-century, germany, childrens-ya

Children's story set in a boy's boarding school, focusing on a group of friends.

The title comes from the story within the story - the group of friends are preparing a play to be performed before the Christmas holidays, it is called ?, the idea of this play is that in the school of the future, learning will be experiential, you want to teach children about volcanos - well you'll pack them into a plane and fly to one, history - fly to the pyramids and so on.

In the time honoured way of plays within ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2015 Ms. Smartarse rated it really liked it

Shelves: philosophical, made-me-cry, early-xx-century, comedy, oldies-but-goldies, action-adventure, children-s, german

Translated into English as The Flying Classroom.

For the longest time I've always associated the 'right books' with immense bouts of depression. Since I was a kid, I would happily spend the day reading tonnes of charming little tales about brave princes, mysterious elves and clever talking tigers. But then some busybody teacher would inevitably ruin my enjoyment by letting me know that these books were not age-appropriate anymore. I needed to read stories with more depth! I would generally relent ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Aug 20, 2008 Tyas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: general-children

The first time I read this book was about 20 years ago, and I have loved the book ever since. Probably apart from my textbooks which, whether I like or not, I had to read repeatedly in high school and college, this is the book that I’ve been reading again and again from the first to the last page for most times.

The story is set in an all-male boarding school – or to be exact a Gymnasium called Johann-Sigismund in Germany. Unlike many other books about teens living in dorms, the story does not la The first time I read this book was about 20 years ago, and I have loved the book ever since. Probably apart from my textbooks which, whether I like or not, I had to read repeatedly in high school and college, this is the book that I’ve been reading again and again from the first to the last page for most times.

The story is set in an all-male boarding school – or to be exact a Gymnasium called Johann-Sigismund in Germany. Unlike many other books about teens living in dorms, the story does not last a term, but instead only portrays a couple of days in the life of five Obertertia students. They’re preparing for their Christmas musical performance, but at the same time they also have to face several important events, from school-brawls over silly reasons against the student of the local Realschule (isn’t that big!) and personal troubles.

Although written in a relaxed, funny manner, the book also deals with problems like self-confidence, self-esteem, poverty, loneliness, doubts about the education system – the things that have been, and will always be, haunting teens of every age. And the teens in DFK, although they may live tens of years ago, are characters that we can still relate to in this time and age. There’s the poetic, dreamy Johnny; there’s the sharp, lone-wolf Sebastian; there’s the intelligent, proud Martin; there’s timid, ‘cowardly’ Uli; there’s rough but basically kind-hearted Matz.

There are a lot of things that we can learn and ponder from the book, although the book itself does not feel patronizing. Kastner carried out his main purpose as an author of books such as Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer: he told a story, and he did it well. He built characters, without wasting too many words trying to describe them all; as we follow the dialogues and the events, we can understand the characters involved in the book.

Truly a gem.

(By the way, if you try to Wiki this book, some of the information in the page was provided by yours truly. Yes, I love the book that much.)
...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2020 Alwynne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-children-ya, work-in-translation, school-stories, german-lang-challenge-20-21

Erich Kastner’s children’s book was first published in 1935, unlike his most famous piece Emil and the Detectives, it has a minimal plot, it’s an understated, beautifully-observed and gently-paced Christmas story centred on a boys’ boarding-school in a small German town. A close band of pupils put on a Christmas play, rivalry with another local school leads to a kidnapping and a furious snowball fight, but essentially Kastner’s writing about friendship, growing-up and finding out how best to liv ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2014 Nika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, childrens, favorites

I had a bout of nostalgia the other day, and just had to read this again. Still love it, still cried.

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Aug 12, 2020 JJ rated it really liked it

One of my all-time favorite children's books. Loved it as a kiddo, love it still. ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2009 hanhilhen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: somebody who wants to preserve their childhood memory

Shelves: timeless-childhood-books

Well, I know I like children book. They are all special for a person like me (who doesn't really want to grow up). But this book is so unique and the way Erich Kaestner wrote his dry humor in this book is really one of his kind.
You will meet the little Uli von Simmern, a wanna be a boxer Matthias Selbmann, the smartest Martin Thaler, the sarcastic Sebastian Frank and the author Johnny Trotz in this Germany boys boarding school story.
All of them are mixed up together. From funny story when Profes ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2007 Elleonora Tambunan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: heartening, childhood, about_people

Four stars for the heart-melting factor as the ending!:). I read the book for the first time years ago, its Indonesian translation, to be exact. The book is about a group of students in Johann-Sigismund Gymnasium, in the last days before their Christmas break. Erich Kastner was superb in creating so humanly characters, the plot is fantastic, and to this day I am still heartened by the boys' friendship. One question remains lingering on my mind, though: are the school principal and his long-lost ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 23, 2020 rosamund rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

Hard to believe this wholesome little book about a group of schoolboys was controversial enough to be burned by Nazis. The novel focuses on five boys, approximately 11 years old, at boarding school in a small town in Germany. It's almost Christmas, and the story follows them through putting on a school play, fighting with boys from a local town school, and reuniting a teacher with his long-lost friend. The boys come from a variety of backgrounds: one of them is too poor to afford the train fare ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2020 Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: jumped-ship-dnf

DNF @ 25%. I was trying to read it with a student but it was soooo boring.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2014 Katy Noyes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another winner that should be better known outside of its home country. By the author of Emil and the Detectives, this story is just as enjoyable.

Bookended by a writer trying to come up with a Christmas story, the book is then set in a boarding school in Germany, with a period feeling of Tom Brown's Schooldays, Morpurgo's The War of Jenkins' Ear and Kipling's Stalky and Co as well as the fun of Harry Potter and Matilda.

It's a little adventure of the boys there, with stolen exercise books, a pla ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 10, 2020 Alik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My daughter seems to like the story though there are only boys in it, apart from a woman or two, who spend most of their time weeping or dead. There is not even a chance for any Bechdel.

Still, she listened with rapt attention and remembers much more than I do (though the latter is no argument at all these days).

So I don't know what to make of it. She had read "Das doppelte Löttchen", so that she was loaded with female-centred narrative when we read this thing, and I hadn't, so I wanted girls. Th ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2015 Amanda Northrup rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Erich Kastner's The Flying Classroom, was originally published in German in 1933. Last year I read (and enjoyed) his classic, Emil and the Detectives. So I was curious to see if The Flying Classroom would have the same charm.

Although The Flying Classroom had some memorable scenes, overall it was really disappointing. While this book will certainly appeal to an adult audience looking to relive older-styled stories, I doubt it will find much of an audience in the US in 2015.

But there are lots of p ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 09, 2015 Angela Jr. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015

A genuinely heart-warming story.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2019 Alexa rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

3.5*
I really enjoyed the first half of this book with all the fights between the students of the two schools. But the second half just didn't interest me at all and was kinda boring.
Bottom line: Eisern! ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2015 Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children, 1920s-1930s

An odd little school story. The boys have their notions of decency (no tattling, no crying, don't bully those younger than you). Some of their notions, upheld by their teachers, would have modern parents getting the authorities involved, such as: physical violence is a viable way of settling differences between schoolboys, whether it be a battle with snowballs (rocks included) or a one-on-one punchup; doing something dangerous and stupid that ends in personal injury is better than thinking yours ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 18, 2012 David Koblos rated it liked it

Shelves: classics

Another great classic I'd missed out and caught up on with an adult head. Not sure if I really liked it that much. It's cute and all, but I think there are too many story threads for the short volume. Also, I couldn't help being reminded of another school-boy classic from Hungary, which I happened to read as a kid. It's a bit older than this one, and the focus is entirely on the two rivaling youth gangs. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 27, 2020 Ramona Cantaragiu rated it liked it

Nice little story about six boys at a boarding school with lots of drama and pranks. However, nothing really appealed to me and even though some stories were tragic, I found myself not really caring about the good boy who was trying to get home to his parents even though they did not have any money for the train ticket or about the return of the long lost childhood friend. Maybe this would appeal more to a male audience.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2008 Emily rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classical-books, teenage-fiction

This is my second time reading The Flying Classroom, I truly wish the reality of American schools could be just like what it is described in the fiction...but I guess the society is made up of difference people and things don't always go your way, so you have to learn to accept your surroundings in order to make yourself happy. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 03, 2014 Stefani Akins rated it it was amazing

I love Erich Kästner. This particular book of his and another children's classic, Pünktchen und Anton, have long been on my perennial favorites list. Reading it today, you also get some incidental insight into life in Germany in the early 1930s. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2015 Duru Haru rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was a homework that my teacher gave me. Be honest, I always hate the reading homeworks because i can not get the motivation or the feeling when i want to read somthing so bad. But this book changed my thoughts on the read works. This book is actually one of the bests.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2012 Vessela Desheva rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I've read this book as a child but it was such a pleasure to re-discover it with my children!:) Such a beautiful, touching, hearth-warming story!:))) ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 07, 2015 Dessi Walsh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Absolutely and totally wonderful.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 07, 2021 Fred rated it it was amazing

A quintessential German coming of age story, about children in an all-boys boarding school discovering friendship, courage, empathy, and so much more.

I found it tremendously powerful because it conveys these concepts not with the raised finger of a preacher, but through the lived experience of the boys and their teachers themselves. As such, they are not perfect, they are loud, self-absorbed, boisterous, but when it matters they stick up for each other, they show bravery and kindness and gratefu ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 09, 2019 Sara marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Very fun, different school boys and Christmas story. Love the boys freedom to grow as independent, thinking humans with agency. Love the male head of school and his old best friend who is scraping by. Love the male friendships and rough tenderness. Read this aloud with boys ( and parts of original German version). Kästner is one of the only authors whose books were burned by the Nazi party who stayed in Germany through the war, watched the book burning and documented in his writing but this book ...more

flag Like · see review

May 15, 2019 Julie rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is Kastner’s 1933 novel about a group of very young male students that live at a boarding school in Germany and which highlights their camaraderie as the grow up and learn about life and how they learn to rely on their classmates and their teachers. This was just okay for me. However, when I researched the author; he became more interesting than this story. He was German and his books were burned in 1933 when the Goebbels instigated the book burnings pre WWII. Now I want to read a biography ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 10, 2019 Dominika rated it it was amazing

I fell in love with this story, it was so charming, moving and simply wonderful, I couldn't stop reading it! It's a school story, a group of boys living in a boarding school and their teachers and their adventures in a week before Christmas. If you want to read a heart-warming story in which teachers are supportive and love their job, I highly recommend this book. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 01, 2021 theBookwormeater rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have only read the shortened easy reader version so far, the review is subject to change!
Friendship is the main theme of this story and it is very positive how adults are shown as supportive and considerate of the children. What I am not sure about is the lack of female characters in this book.

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Childrens

73 users

Fiction

56 users

Classics

53 users

European Literature > German Literature

49 users

Holiday > Christmas

10 users

Young Adult

7 users

Adventure

6 users

Literature > 20th Century

6 users

Cultural > Germany

6 users

Novels

4 users

See top shelves…

About Erich Kästner

Erich Kästner

422 followers

Erich Kästner (1899 – 1974) was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known for his humorous, socially astute poetry and children's literature.

A stout pacifist and democrat, he was expelled from the national writers' guild during the Nazi era, with many of his books being burned in public. Today, he is widely regarded as one of Germany's most prolific and beloved children's book author ...more

Books by Erich Kästner

Emil und die Detektive / Emil und die drei Zwillinge

More…

Great Books to Give the Kids This Holiday!

Tami Charles is a former teacher and the author of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, and nonfiction. As a teacher, she made...

Trivia About Das fliegende Kla...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Das fliegende Kla...

“Трябва да се научите твърдо да преглъщате ударите, както се изразяват боксьорите. Трябва да се научите да ги преглъщате и да ги смилате. Инак още при първата плесница, която ви залепи животът, ще бъдете „гроги“. Защото боксьорските ръкавици на живота са дяволски големи, момчета. Ако изядеш една такава плесница, без да си подготвен за нея, достатъчно е след това само някоя от малките стайни мушици да кихне, за да се проснеш с цялата си дължина.” — 0 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — Das fliegende Klassenzimmer by Erich Kästner

Das fliegende Klassenzimmer

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Erich Kästner

Books by Erich Kästner

Related Articles

Trivia About Das fliegende Kla...

Quotes from Das fliegende Kla...

See a Problem?

Preview — Das fliegende Klassenzimmer by Erich Kästner

Das fliegende Klassenzimmer

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Erich Kästner

Books by Erich Kästner

Related Articles

Trivia About Das fliegende Kla...

Quotes from Das fliegende Kla...

new topic
Discuss This Book