The paper analyses how trains and trams are represented as narrative and symbolic spaces in German short stories written in the 20th century. Drawing on the concepts of heterotopia suggested by M. Foucault, the phenomenology of poetic space described by G. Bachelard and the cultural history of railways introduced by W. Schivelbusch, the study reveals how railway transport functions as a setting for movement, transformation, and existential reflection. The analysis emphasises how various symbolic meanings of transport are interpreted in the works of H. Hesse, F. Kafka, W. Borchert, F. Dürrenmatt, R. O. Wiemer, and H. M. Novak. The connection between heterotopia and the phenomenological approaches applied allows us to highlight the interaction between micro and macro spaces in the context of the individual’s emotional and existential experiences, as well as wider social and cultural structures. The paper reveals that the train and the tram in German short stories are not merely means of transport. They are multilayered symbols that reflect the interplay of technology, space, time, and human vulnerability, as well as the dialectics of modernity. The study provides a broader understanding of the relationship between mobility, space, and human experience within a literary context.
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