Characters

=CHARACTERS=

**Major characters**
Katharina Blum - A divorced housekeeper. Ludwig Götten - A suspected criminal on the lam. Else Woltersheim - Katharina's godmother and friend, she throws a party on Weiberfastnacht ('Women's Carnival Night'), where Katharina and Ludwig meet. Erwin Beizmenne - Detective Chief Kommissar in charge of the criminal procedure. Werner Tötges - An invasive magazine journalist. Walter Möding - Kommissar Beizmennes's assistant.

**Minor characters**
Peter Blum - Katharina's father, a construction worker who died when Katharina was six years old. Maria Blum - Katharina's mother, who dies during the course of the story. Werner Tötges finds her just as she is about to undergo a procedure to remove her cancer and begins asking her questions about Katharina. Kurt Blum - Katharina's brother. He is in jail. Wilhelm Brettloh - A textile worker and Katharina's first husband. They were introduced by Katharina's brother. Dr. Kluthen - Katharina works as his housekeeper for a year. Dr. Trude Blorna – Katharina’s current employer. An architect, she was known in her college years as "Red Trude" because of her hair color. Peter Hach - Attorney and friend of Hubert Blorna. Alois Sträubleder - Industrialist, a client of Hubert Blorna. He has a house in the country that Katharina uses to hide Götten.

Konrad Beiters - Live-in partner of Else Woltersheim. Through him, Katharina obtains the gun she uses to shoot Tötges.

Boll's characterisation in general