Press release: 9.8.2018

Monacensia exhibition formerly on display in the Hildebrandhaus now in the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 // German National Library in Frankfurt am Main // 17 August to 15 December 2018

Exhibition opening: Thursday, 16 August 2018, 19:00

“Mon Oncle. Klaus and Heinrich Mann” is the first of the temporary exhibitions that have now been resumed by the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 on its newly refurbished premises to complement the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony”. Curator Dr. Uwe Naumann will be giving an introduction to the exhibition at its official opening on 16 August at 7 pm. The exhibition, which was previously located in the Monacensia library in the Hildebrandhaus, will be on display at the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main from 17 August to 15 December 2018.

“Mon Oncle. Klaus and Heinrich Mann" presents a special chapter in the history of a remarkable German family: the relationship between Heinrich Mann and his oldest nephew Klaus. It focuses on the life stories of two writers: Heinrich Mann (1871–1950), author of the novels “Professor Unrat” (Small Town Tyrant) and “Der Untertan” (Man of Straw), who during the years of the Weimar Republic became one of the most highly regarded artists in Germany; and Klaus Mann (1906–1949), who started his career as a literary enfant terrible in the 1920s. Both of them had to go into exile in the spring of 1933, after the Nazis rose to power. Over the years that followed, the spiritual connection between the two men grew stronger and the uncle increasingly took on the role of a father figure for the nephew. Klaus Mann’s novel “Mephisto” would be inconceivable without Heinrich Mann’s “Man of Straw”.

Both men were among the most important representatives of the resistance movement, firstly in exile in Europe and later in the USA. However, neither Klaus nor Heinrich Mann managed to return permanently to Europe during the years that followed 1945. Their exile was lifelong. “You can't go home again,” stated Klaus Mann bitterly after a trip to Germany. In 1949, he took his own life in Cannes. In 1950, his uncle died in isolation in Los Angeles.

The exhibition documents the lives of Klaus and Heinrich Mann, who were always the anti-bourgeois, Bohemian element in the family. It also addresses the tense, complicated relationship both men had with Thomas Mann, their brother and father respectively. The family history of the Manns also reflects a pivotal chapter in the cultural and contemporary history of Germany.

Mon Oncle. Klaus and Heinrich Mann

Monacensia exhibition formerly on display in the Hildebrandhaus now in the German Exile Archive 1933–1945

17 August to 15 December 2018
Monday to Friday, 9:00–21:30
Saturday, 10:00–17:30
Closed on Sundays, public holidays, and from 3–8 September 2018.
Admission free.

Exhibition opening: Thursday, 16 August 2018, 19:00

Welcome: Ute Schwens, Director of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main
Introduction: Dr. Uwe Naumann, Curator of the exhibition

Guided tours with the curator

Monday, 22. October 2018, 18.30
Monday, 12. November 2018, 18.30

Background

The task of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 of the German National Library is to collect publications and records of the German-speaking exile during the period of Nazi dictatorship. Such publications include all books and brochures published by German-speaking emigrants abroad between 1933 and 1950, from the fields of literature, politics, science and Jewish emigration, as well as any journals published by exiles. The records include personal estates of German-speaking emigrants from all specialist areas and professional groups, archives from exile organisations and single autographs.

Since March 2018, selected exhibits from the German Exile Archive's own collection have been on display in the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony”.

Responsible for the exhibition and project manager at the Monacensia library: Dr. Elisabeth Tworek
Responsible for the exhibition and project manager at the German Exile Archive 1933–1945: Dr. Sylvia Asmus
Curator: Dr. Uwe Naumann
Exhibition design and realisation: Katharina Kuhlmann, Durchschrift

Contact person
Dr. Sylvia Asmus