Thomas Mann House: reopening on June 6th after fire disaster!
Thomas Mann House: reopening on June 6th after fire disaster!
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, USA - Six months after the devastating fires in Los Angeles, the Thomas Mann House From June 6, 2025, the 150th birthday of the Nobel Prize winner, his regular company back on. The historic building in the Pacific Palisades district, which was the residence of Thomas Mann between 1942 and 1952, has undergone extensive tests, cleaning and repair and maintenance work in recent months and has now been ready for the first presence event since the fires.
When reopening, visitors can expect a concert program with readings that mark the restart of the Fellowship program. The Fellowship program started in 2018 and will welcome its traditionally committed scholarship holders in the Thomas Mann House from June.
challenges and success
The story of Thomas Mann House is closely interwoven with that of the Lion Feuchtwanger, another important exilant, its former house, the , is currently closed due to extensive fire renovations. This work will take several months, a date for reopening has not yet been determined. Claudia Gordon, who manages the houses, emphasizes the resilience of the two authors and the cultural importance of this former residential seats for writers and artists who fled from Nazi Germany.
Both houses that have been acting as cultural centers since the government takeover by the Federal Republic of Germany in 2016 have suffered from the losses of the fires. While the Thomas Mann House remained largely intact, alternatives had to be sought for the Villa Aurora for the scholarship holders, since numerous valuable books and personal objects that were left behind during the evacuations were also lost.
Cultural heritage of exile
Thomas Mann and Lion Feuchtwanger were not only known writers, but also key figures in the cultural and literary opposition to the National Socialist dictatorship. The Goethe-Institut emphasizes that these villas became places of intellectual exchange, where exile like Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler and Charlie Chaplin met.
The Villa Aurora was built in 1928 and was a center for artists and scientists who were acquired by the Feuchtwangers after extensive renovations. Her library included over 30,000 books and was a place of inspiration and dialogue for many exile. With the upcoming renovation work, the Villa Aurora is currently not being played, but remains an essential part of the cultural heritage that combines the stories of German exile with contemporary reality.
Both houses are not only material relics of the past, but also manifestations of the ongoing artistic and intellectual exchange between Germany and the USA. Fortunately, a new chapter in the history of both institutions is opened with the upcoming events and programs.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, USA |
| Quellen | |
Kommentare (0)