The Thomas Mann Group discussion

Some visuals to get us started:

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Mengstr. 4 in Lübeck, the novel's main location and the actual home of the Mann family from 1843 onwards. There is an exhibit on the first floor reproducing two rooms described in the novel, the "landscape room" and the dining room, which also includes a model of Hanno Buddenbrook's toy theatre.

A historic image of the (no longer existant) building at Lübeck's Breite Str. 38, where the Mann family moved in 1872, and where Thomas Mann was born.

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Lübeck, other merchant buildings and the medieval arcades near the Buddenbrook House and near St. Mary's church (see next post).

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St. Mary's church, opposite the Buddenbrook House -- the Lübeck Hansa merchants' main church, on which all of the approximately 50 gothic red brick churches and cathedrals that are so characteristic of the Baltic and North Sea regions would come to be modeled.

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Lübeck's medieval city hall.

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Lübeck, a historic mill, merchant store houses and homes on the banks of the river Trave. In the background, the spires of St. Mary's and St. Peter's churches and Lübeck Cathedral.

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Travemünde harbor with the historic barque "Passat" (1911), and Travemünde beach (at dusk).

Themis-Athena, thank you so much for starting this thread. These images are wonderful! I know they will enrich my reading experience.

Thank you, Themis-Athena! I have visited Lübeck and the Mann family home twice. These pictures are reviving old memories.

I think by the end of our read we'll probably all be familiar with every nook and cranny of 19th century Lübeck, thanks to Mann's own descriptions alone! :)

It's still a beautiful city, though; well worth a visit ... and not JUST for Mann's sake, either.

Themis-Athena wrote: "I think by the end of our read we'll probably all be familiar with every nook and cranny of 19th century Lübeck, thanks to Mann's own descriptions alone! :)

It's still a beautiful city, though; we..."

I am thinking MARZIPAN!!

Gundula wrote: "I am thinking MARZIPAN!!"

Oh, absolutely! :)

Themis-Athena wrote: "Gundula wrote: "I am thinking MARZIPAN!!"

Oh, absolutely! :)

"

Lübeck Marzipan is definitely the best marzipan in the world (I love how the bars are covered with dark chocolate).

Yes -- that store up there (Niederegger) turned out to be a VERY dangerous place indeed ...

Thanks T-A! The city hall is definitely bringing back memories. Of marzipan and Mozart Balls. I don't remember visiting the Mann house. It was a long time ago.

Let's also take in the rockin' Holstentor:

Here's the other side of the Holstentor, circa 1900. A color photo lithograph.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Thanks T-A! The city hall is definitely bringing back memories. Of marzipan and Mozart Balls. I don't remember visiting the Mann house. It was a long time ago.

Let's also take in the rockin' Holstentor"

Beautiful images, thank you for adding them!
Here are two, showing the inscriptions on the outside and inside (city side) of the building:

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"Harmony within, peace without" (outward facade) and "Senatus Populusque Lubecensis" (the Senate and the People of Lübeck -- inward facade); the latter of course modeled on the Roman "S.P.Q.R." (Senatus Populusque Romanus -- the Senat and the People of Rome). Like Rome, each of the Northern German Hansa cities was -- and in fact, still is -- governed by a senate as its representative body: in Lübeck, these days it's the city council; in Hamburg and Bremen, both of which are states in addition to being cities, it's the state parliament.

You wouldn't have been able to visit a museum at Mengstr. 4 if you visited before 1990, btw (I'm not even sure the address would have figured in each and every tourist guide then) ... the building was owned by a bank and run as an ordinary bank branch from 1955 to 1990! When Mann visited in 1953, it was still showing the substantial destruction it had suffered in WWII:



P.S. Mozart Balls -- in Lübeck?!

Thank you Themis-Athena! I always like to look up pictures of places described in books. But I hadn't thought of looking up the houses where T Mann lived. Very helpful!

Themis-Athena wrote: "P.S. Mozart Balls -- in Lübeck?! "

Perhaps not Lübeck. Maybe Munich. Definitely somewhere in Germany, not in Austria.

The authentic Mozart Balls are not the ubiquitous red and gold ones, but the ones in blue and silver made in the Fürst Confectioner in Salzburg.

http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/e...#

Kalliope wrote: "The authentic Mozart Balls are not the ubiquitous red and gold ones, but the ones in blue and silver made in the Fürst Confectioner in Salzburg.

http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/e......"

Do they taste the same as the red and gold ones (I've always found them a bit overly sweet).

Gundula wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "The authentic Mozart Balls are not the ubiquitous red and gold ones,

http://www.original-mozartkugel.co..."

No, they don't. Darker, and therefore less sweet, and much more fine chocolate.

It is the difference between an industrial and a crafted product.

Kalliope wrote: "Gundula wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "The authentic Mozart Balls are not the ubiquitous red and gold ones,

http://www.original-mozartkugel.co..."

No, they don't. Darker, and therefore less sweet, and..."

If I am ever in Salzburg, I will have to try them (for me, any chocolate used with marzipan has to be dark and only slightly sweet because the marzipan is already so sweet that it really needs dark, almost unsweetened chocolate to offset that).

Now you have another reason to go to Salzburg....!!!

:)

GReat pics TA and Lobstergirl. I didn't know the Mozart balls are originally from Salzburg, I thought they came from Vienna.

Kalliope wrote: "Now you have another reason to go to Salzburg....!!!

:)"

A very lovely city, small, charming and plenty of Mozart's spirit around it.

Nice, eh? This is Number 1 Poschingerstrasse, Munich. Mann and Katia bought the site in 1913, had the house built, and moved in with the children in early 1914. They lived here until they fled Germany in 1933. At some point after that, the house was occupied by a senior Nazi official...I'm blanking on who, but someone major. Before the Nazis took over the house, Mann spent agonizing days and nights, making himself physically ill, thinking about the diaries he had left in the house, which told of his desire for men, among other things. We can imagine what the Nazis would have done with such information. At one point one of his children went back to the house and got the diaries and brought them to him, easing his mind.







According to virtualglobetrotting.com, "Currently Alexander Dibelius, Managing Director and CEO of Goldman, Sachs Europe lives here."

After the war ended, Klaus Mann reported that the Munich house had been gutted - everything in it auctioned off. For a time it has been used "as a home for 'Hitler brides' - unmarried girls impregnated to produce healthy Aryan children who'd be dedicated to the Fuhrer - and Himmler had lived in it for a time. It was now occupied by refugees and people who'd been bombed out."

Their vacation house, in Nidden (Nida, Lithuania), "had been used by Goring, who transformed it beyond recognition. It was elaborately decorated and furnished, surrounded by paved walks, stables, and servants' quarters." (Hayman)

These are great posts, Lobstergirl. Thank you.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Nice, eh? This is Number 1 Poschingerstrasse, Munich. Mann and Katia bought the site in 1913, had the house built, and moved in with the children in early 1914. They lived here until they fled G..."

Thanks SO much for the photos. Looks like Poschi has been restored with some attention to authenticity. I'm so glad...and gosh, a businessman apparently lives there now...should be a retreat for writers, but whatever...

From Wikipedia: Das Ehepaar Dibelius erwarb 2001 das ehemalige Grundstück von Thomas Mann in München-Bogenhausen am Herzogpark. Darauf errichtete sein Cousin Thomas Dibelius, Architekt und Hochschullehrer in Siegen, die nahezu originalgetreu wiederhergestellte Fassade der früheren Mann-Villa mit einer klassisch modernen Innenarchitektur.[73]

What a beautiful house. Sad that it was lost to the Mann's but what a fascinating history.

You're welcome!