In the first “A Berlin Diary”, the reader meets Isherwood’s fictitious version of himself and his initial experience of Berlin before the political changes that Nazism brings to Germany, which grows more apparent in the environment and the text itself as the story continues. One of the first characters the readers meet is Frl. Schroeder, a kind and caring landlady. She is endearing in the fact that she acts like a motherly figure to Isherwood after he moves into the boarding house.

Her dialogue with Isherwood is not only intimate and personal, but shows a bit of how she and the city have changed. She is not just a character meant to introduce the scene before Nazi Germany, but introduce the history and how things have initially started changing. However, she in no way is a negative figure or cast in a negative life; it is as if she is meant to reflect his initial view of Berlin and Germany and its peoples, that originally the citizens were just like citizens of any other learned European country. Frl. Schroeder reflects that in being a kind, caring, older feminine figure that everyone can relate to; a sort of maternal figure. The dialogue that they share, whether it be her telling him something about herself or their being a conversation together, that though culturally Germany and England are different (he tells Frl. Hippi he finds that German and English girls are “very different” (222)), the people are relatable to and are not inherently different. Frl. Schroeder, though later shows a jealous and angry side of herself, is meant to set the stage for the story and how Isherwood’s experience in Berlin shifts from “home life” to war.