Klaus Mann- Antifaschist und Europäer

In the organizer's words:

Biography presentation and reading from letters, essays and the life report "The turning point"

with Prof. Dr. Ilse Nagelschmidt and Steffi Böttger

Thomas Mann's eldest son, always measured against his father's work, was one of the "lost generation" of his time. Uncompromising and committed, he faced up to a world of upheavals and upheavals and increasing catastrophes. Influenced by his parental home, he had early contacts with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Gerhart Hauptmann, Samuel Fischer and Bruno Walter.

He had his first publication at the age of 18, and after attending school in various places, his path led him to Berlin. After a brief intermezzo as a theater critic, his desire to live and work as a freelance author matured. World travel, which he undertook together with his sister, and formative friendships were important to him. He was considered an opponent of the National Socialists. His writings were burned and he was expatriated in 1934. He became a Czech citizen in 1937 and was naturalized in the USA in 1943.

His words after his return to Europe sound bitter: "I feel like a stranger in my fatherland." Marked by illness, rehab and loneliness, he voluntarily retired from life in May 1949.