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News from the exile collections

Ausschnitt der illustrierten Titelseite des London Diary von Lili Cassel. Ein zeichnendes Mädchen sitzt zwischen Wolken vermutlich auf einem Sperrballon zur Abwehr von Luftangriffen. Die Illustrationen sind mit Tusche und Wasserfarben gemalt.

Thomas Mann: German listeners! – listening station on the topic of exile outside our Frankfurt building

Hörstation zum Thema Exil vor der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek in Frankfurt am Main. V.l.n.r.: Jürgen Czwienk, Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Dr. Jesko Bender Hörstation zum Thema Exil vor der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek in Frankfurt am Main. V.l.n.r.: Jürgen Czwienk, Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Dr. Jesko Bender

On the forecourt of the German National Library in Frankfurt, the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library inaugurated a listening station on the topic of exile on 17 December 2019.

Along with a text about exile between 1933-1945 and the German Exile Archive’s permanent collection, the listening station contains an excerpt from a radio broadcast by Thomas Mann, who left Germany in 1933 and lived in exile first in Switzerland, then from 1938 in the USA.

Mann gave talks and radio broadcasts in which he forcefully called for active resistance to Hitler. From 1940 on, he also directed his rousing appeals to the Germans themselves. The BBC in London broadcast his radio speeches “Deutsche Hörer!” (German Listeners!) directly to Germany.

The photograph on the listening station shows Thomas Mann at the microphone of the WQXR radio station. It was taken by Eric Schaal in March 1938. Eric Schaal had left Germany in 1936 and also lived in exile in the USA. Eric Schaal’s estate forms part of the German Exile Archive's collection.

The listening station was developed and realised in collaboration with media artist Jürgen Czwienk. The electricity for playing the audio tracks is generated by a hand crank. Similar listening stations on various topics have been set up all over the world. To date, the listening station in front of the German Exile Archive’s permanent exhibition in the vestibule of the German National Library is the only one dedicated to the topic of exile.
The background text on exile is read by actor Jochen Nix.

Further information about the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” is available at: dnb.de/exile

Contact:

Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Director of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945, s.asmus@dnb.de, Tel. +49 69 1525-1900
Jürgen Czwienk, media artist, czwienk97@gmail.com

Pagination

Content

  1. Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (1928–2024) – in memoriam
  2. Guy Stern (1922–2023) – in memoriam
  3. Trude Simonsohn (1921-2022) – in memoriam
  4. “Child Emigration from Frankfurt am Main. Stories of rescue, loss and remembrance”
  5. Questionnaires as a source for researching German-speaking exile – using Alfred Kantorowicz as an example
  6. Professor Dr. John M. Spalek (1928-2021) in memoriam
  7. Lieselotte Maas (1937-2020) – In memoriam
  8. Ruth Klüger (1931-2020) – in memoriam
  9. "What should I cook?" Recipes from the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  10. Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) - In memoriam
  11. Thomas Mann: German listeners! – listening station on the topic of exile outside our Frankfurt building
  12. Publication of exhibition catalogue “Exile. Experience and Testimony”
  13. Focusing on the topic of exile – the history magazine "Damals" ("Yesteryear") is published in collaboration with the German Exile Archive 1933–1945
  14. Dora Schindel (1915–2018) – In memoriam
  15. Werner Berthold (1921–2017) – In memoriam
  16. Rolf Kralovitz (1925 - 2015) – In memoriam
  17. Buddy Elias – In memoriam
  18. Arts in Exile – virtual exhibition and network
  19. Brigitte Kralovitz-Meckauer (1925–2014) – in memoriam
  20. Ludwig Werner Kahn - 100th birthday
  21. Goethe Medal and honorary membership of the Gesellschaft für Exilforschung e.V. awarded to Professor John M. Spalek
  22. "Nestor of German finance" - Fritz Neumark's 110th birthday
  23. Book donation for the German National Library
  24. "A prisoner of Stalin and Hitler" - 20 years since the death of Margarete Buber-Neumann
  25. The founder of futurology – the 100th birthday of Ossip K. Flechtheim
  26. On the death of lyricist Emma Kann
  27. Nestor of exile research 1933–1945 in the USA - the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. John M. Spalek
  28. Pre-mortem legacy of politologist John G. Stoessinger in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  29. Lili Cassel Wronker: A London Diary, 1939-1940
  30. Chronicler of her century – 90th birthday of Anja Lundholm
  31. Reichsausbürgerungskartei
  32. Hans Gustav Güterbock
  33. Geneviève Pitot: The Mauritian-Shekel

Last changes: 21.01.2022

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