The German Thomas Mann Society invites you to the grand anniversary conference in Lübeck from June 5-8, 2025, commemorating Thomas Mann's 150th birthday. Thomas Mann's life was strongly influenced by the political events of the first half of the 20th century. International success and emigration made him a cosmopolitan and frequent traveler. In this anniversary year, the international conference of the German Thomas Mann Society focuses on both Mann's evolution from a loyal conservative of the Reich to a rational republican and finally to a convinced democrat, as well as his international identity. The conference does not omit his own stereotypical prejudices, from which Thomas Mann was not immune despite his mother's Brazilian descent and immigration experience, and his own migration experience. Together with the Thomas Mann International network and scholars from around the world, the conference also discusses the present and future of research as well as Thomas Mann's enduring influence that remains valid today.
DAY 4
10:00 AM
Introduction: Thomas Mann - A Person with International History
Thomas Mann's international identity stems from both his mother's Brazilian descent and immigration experience, and from his forced emigration. However, his own migration experience did not completely protect him from his own stereotypical prejudices.
PD Dr. Irmtraud Hnilica (FernUniversität Hagen)
10:15 AM
Thomas Mann and Zionism
Thomas Mann's diverse political engagement is reflected in the debate about Zionism as if through a magnifying glass. Already in the 1920s, he was a member of a pro-Zionist support association. After World War II, he strongly advocated for the establishment of a Jewish state that would offer a safe haven for Holocaust survivors - whose horror and extent Thomas Mann was one of the first intellectuals to name before the world. The lecture traces the individual stages of this development and places them in the context of his political thinking and actions as a whole.
Prof. Dr. Kai Sina (Münster)
10:45 AM
Thomas Mann and Colonialism
Thomas Mann's family history is closely tied to the history of colonialism and slavery. His works reflect this connection in their tension between affirmation and analysis of exoticization and racism. Can we read Thomas Mann, the German-Brazilian, anew against the background of current identity political questions?
Dr. Veronika Fuechtner (Dartmouth College, USA)
11:15 AM Coffee Break
11:45 AM
Ambivalences - Ethnic Identifications in Thomas Mann
PD Dr. Irmtraud Hnilica, Dr. Veronika Fuechtner, and Prof. Dr. Kai Sina discuss how multi-layered and partly contradictory Thomas Mann identified himself biographically and how he was perceived externally.
Moderation: Sandra Kegel (FAZ)
1:00 PM Lunch Break
2:00 PM
Members' Meeting Young Forum Thomas Mann
3:00 PM
Members' Meeting German Thomas Mann Society
4:30 PM Coffee Break
8:00 PM
Time Leaps - Perspectives
"Fables, Delusions, Fantasies" - Conspiracy Narratives and Their Threat to Democracy
This format aims to connect the Manns' literary texts with current debates. Under the title "Fables, Delusions, Fantasies" - Conspiracy Narratives and Their Threat to Democracy, following Doctor Faustus, the discussion focuses on the dangers of conspiracy narratives for political and social coexistence. Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus deals with the danger of conspiracy narratives for political and human community life through the example of the Kridwiß Circle - a gentlemen's meeting named after its host Sixtus Kridwiß. Science and research are despised, belief becomes primary over criticism and reason. The triumph of delusional myths and narratives ultimately leads to a "re-barbarization" that is quite desired in the novel. Since the coining of "alternative facts" during Donald Trump's presidency, since the discussions during the Corona pandemic about chips being implanted in human bodies via vaccines, and most certainly since the attack on the Capitol, in which QAnon movement supporters were significantly involved, it is evident that the irrational has become politically powerful again - not to mention the recurring antisemitic narratives about an alleged 'world Jewry' and a state-controlled "lying press".
A cooperation between the Friends of the Buddenbrookhaus, the Heinrich Mann Society, and the German Thomas Mann Society in collaboration with the Buddenbrookhaus.
Moderation: Dr. Tim Lörke
Reading: Michael Fuchs (Theater Lübeck)
