Professor Heinz J. Armbrust's lecture aims to highlight the significance of Agnes Meyer for Thomas Mann's work while tracing the personal development between the two. For a long time, there was a fixed image of this relationship, based on Thomas Mann's diary entries and the extensive correspondence published in 1992. On one hand, Meyer was seen as a woman whose efforts were crucial for the author's success in the USA and worldwide. On the other hand, Mann's diaries reveal how, despite his gratitude, Meyer's domineering and demanding nature eventually embittered him to the point of terminating their relationship. The two then struggled to maintain their connection until Thomas Mann's death.
Heinz J. Armbrust, born in 1940, studied German and English in Munich and Edinburgh. He was a lecturer for German as a foreign language at the University of Bradford, England, before being appointed Professor of Business English and Rhetoric at the Landshut University of Applied Sciences. After retirement, he dedicated himself to Thomas Mann research and published, together with Gert Heine, the now standard reference work "Who's Who in Thomas Mann's Life?" (2008). This was followed by "Dear Friend, ..." - Women in Thomas Mann's Life (2014) and The Magician's Shadow - Klaus Mann and Thomas Mann in their Diaries and Letters (2021).
Admission is free.
