It concerns a few hours and days of German contemporary history - the vote of no confidence against Willy Brandt. Letters, postcards, and telegrams from the public to the then Chancellor Willy Brandt provide a dense snapshot of April 27, 1972, yet illuminate much more than just this one moment in the history of the Federal Republic. They show how German post-war society attempts to emerge as something new in the face of its catastrophic past. What appears to be a political dispute over the Eastern treaties is read in the letters as a culturally encompassing societal scene. At its center: the figure of Willy Brandt. Above all, the fiery associations triggered by his self-chosen surname create a stage where socially marginalized voices can be heard. After that, nothing is as it was? The symbol?.