The 60th birthday of Gerhart Hauptmann in 1922 gave Thomas Mann the opportunity to express his support for the Weimar Republic, albeit with reservations. His speech at Berlin’s Beethoven Hall provoked discontent among nationalist-minded professors and students. Mann cited the royalist Romantic Novalis as a witness and criticized expressionist literature. His support for President Friedrich Ebert extended only to Ebert as an individual. Nevertheless, from his base in Munich, Mann actively advocated for the democratic state.
This lecture is part of the series Thomas Mann and German Politics:
June 27: "Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man" – A Polemic for Old Germany
July 4: "On the German Republic" – Conservative Support for the Weimar Republic
July 11: "German Address" – A Warning Against National Socialism
July 18: "German Listeners" – Propaganda Against Hitler
July 25: "Germany and the Germans" – A Failed History?
