Lübeck is celebrating the birthday of the city’s most famous son: 150 years of Thomas Mann. The Hanseatic city, where the writer was born on 6 June 1875 and which he later described as his ‘heart’s home in the north’, is dedicating a wide-ranging anniversary programme to the great writer and cosmopolitan. At the centre is the exhibition „My Time. Thomas Mann and Democracy“ , which traces Thomas Mann’s political emancipation from reactionary to democrat. The exhibition is highly topical and presents Thomas Mann’s political commitment in his life and work in a multimedia format, including a graphic novel and audio stations.
Abb. oben: Thomas Mann, ETH Library, Zurich, Thomas Mann Archive, Photo: Unknown
In addition to the exhibition, the birthday will be celebrated throughout the city: Panel discussions, readings and a symposium will be dedicated to Thomas Mann and will not leave out critical facets such as Mann’s anti-Semitic, sexist and racist tendencies. Literary city walks will follow the biographical and literary traces through the old town and a radio play on the life and work of the writer will be produced for a young audience.
A highlight of the anniversary programme will be a ceremony on 6 June, Thomas Mann’s birthday, in the presence of his grandson Prof. Dr. Frido Mann.
An exhibition with current relevance: Political emancipation in focus
In „My Time. Thomas Mann and Democracy“, the Buddenbrookhaus tells the story of Thomas Mann’s political transformation and his commitment to democracy. Thomas Mann himself has his say in the exhibition: his original voice, handed down in countless articles, essays, diary entries, speeches, interviews, radio contributions, etc., provides the narrative thread of the show. Large exhibits, from Thomas Mann’s school magazine Frühlingssturm to the Volksempfänger, stage Thomas Mann’s written and spoken word. In this way, the text – to which Thomas Mann owes his fame in its many guises even 70 years after his death – becomes the most important object in the exhibition.
At the centre is his famous speech My Time, which Thomas Mann gave in Chicago in 1950 and in which he clearly rejects any „total state“ and any „dogmatic dictatorship“. The text marks a high point in Thomas Mann’s political development from a conservative loyal to the rich.
„My time is our time“, says Dr Caren Heuer, Director of the Buddenbrookhaus. „Looking at the current crisis of democracy with Thomas Mann sharpens our view. His warning not to fall for the easy answers and populist seducers still applies. The republic is in our hands, in the hands of each individual, said Thomas Mann in 1922. Democracy needs us all or it will fail. That is as true today as it was a hundred years ago.“
In July, Koenigshausen & Neumann will publish the catalogue „Meine Zeit. Thomas Mann and Democracy“ will be published by Koenigshausen & Neumann in July, expanding the exhibition with contributions from the fields of political science and history.
Ceremony on 6 June 2025 & programme for the anniversary celebrations
The anniversary programme for Thomas Mann’s 150th birthday runs throughout the year. Together with partners such as the Lübeck Theatre, the Lübeck University of Music, the German Thomas Mann Society, the German Society Abroad, the Goethe Institute, academics and authors in Germany and abroad and many more, the Buddenbrookhaus has put together a broad anniversary programme.
The highlight will be a ceremony on 6 June 2025, Thomas Mann’s birthday, in the church of St. Aegidien. Federal President Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister President Daniel Günther and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal are invited. In the evening, Prof. Dr Frido Mann, grandson of Thomas Mann, will open the concert „Thomas Mann. The concert of his life“, in which the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck will play Thomas Mann’s favourite pieces.
The international Thomas Mann conference (05.06.-08.06.2025, Lübeck) is entitled „150 Years of Thomas Mann. Border crossings and transformations“. Speakers and participants from all over the world will critically analyse Thomas Mann’s development and discuss his work.
WHEN?
Ceremony & opening: Friday, 6th June 2025
Exhibition dates: Friday, 6th June – Sunday, 18th January 2026
WHERE?
An exhibition of the Buddenbrookhaus
in the St. Annen-Museum, Lübeck
St. Annen-Str. 15
23552 Lübeck
