The Narrator's first landlord in West Berlin, Schalter is a small, smiling, optimistic Swabian (South German). He works as a hotel interior designer. The rear exit of his large but unfinished apartment lies next to the Narrator's front door. When Schalter invites the Narrator to a fancy dinner obviously planned for another guest, he offers a monologue about his frustrated affair with the wife of a powerful German television correspondent based in Africa. He goes often to the Schönefeld Airport, expecting her arrival and believes that she is being held captive. Schalter lets himself go, not shaving and dressing shabbily. He visits friends in East Berlin, works the black market, and comes to appreciate the social system of the DDR. One day, he simply moves out.
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