T he ancient GreekS took the word kairos to mean “the opportune moment”; in Christian texts the term has been translated as “spiritual opportunity”. More simply, kairos can mean “the right time”. It certainly seems that way for Hans, in his early 50s, and 19-year-old Katharina, who meet on a bus in East Berlin in July 1986. Their encounter is a coup de foudre of desire and anguish. The relationship plays out momentously—and, over the course of the next four years, destructively—as the German Democratic Republic begins to crumble.
古希腊人以凯罗斯（Kairos）一词为“合适的时刻”。在基督教文本中，该术语被翻译为“精神机会”。更简单地说，凯罗斯可以表示“合适的时间”。对于汉斯（Hans）的50多岁和19岁的凯塔琳娜（Katharina）来说，这肯定是这样，他们于1986年7月在东柏林的一辆公共汽车上见面。他们的遭遇是欲望和痛苦的政变。由于德国民主共和国开始崩溃，这种关系逐渐发挥了作用，而且在接下来的四年中，这种关系却是破坏性的。
