24 May 2022 Press release

The new temporary exhibition at the German National Library’s German Exile Archive 1933–1945 explores the complex personality of Marcel Reich-Ranicki and shows him as a contemporary witness, a person seeking a homeland, a critic, a literary educator, a friend, an adversary, a media star – and as someone who described his relationship with Judaism as ambivalent. Visitors will be able to view the exhibition “Marcel Reich-Ranicki. One life, many roles” from 3 June 2022 to 14 January 2023 in Frankfurt. It will open at 19:00 on Thursday 2 June 2022, Reich-Ranicki’s 102nd birthday.

After greetings by Ida Thompson and Carla Ranicki, Marcel Reich-Ranicki’s daughter-in-law and granddaughter, curators Sylvia Asmus and Uwe Wittstock will give an introduction to the exhibition. Actor Jochen Nix will read passages from Reich-Ranicki’s texts and discussions. Writer Eva Demski and FAZ editor Jürgen Kaube will talk about their memories of the prominent critic who was their friend. Hagit Halaf, violin, and Christoph Langheim, viola, will provide musical accompaniment for the opening event.

Who was Marcel Reich-Ranicki? His incredible life’s work, his numerous fields of interest, but also the historic events that so greatly influenced his biography make it difficult to encapsulate the phenomenon that Reich-Ranicki embodied. Yet these things also make it all the more exciting to focus on the many different roles that Reich-Ranicki adopted or was forced to adopt during his lifetime. Marcel Reich-Ranicki’s life's work is documented first and foremost in words, in literature. What could be more appropriate for a person for whom literature meant home? The exhibition features video and audio recordings of Marcel Reich-Ranicki as well as his letters and works.

The exhibition is curated by Uwe Wittstock, author of the book “Marcel Reich-Ranicki. Die Biografie” and Sylvia Asmus, Head of the German Exile Archive. The exhibition is sponsored by Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft (Polytechnical Association Foundation) and Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain (Frankfurt RheinMain Culture Fund).

The exhibition is being held in cooperation with the television broadcaster ZDF.

The catalogue “Marcel Reich-Ranicki. Ein Leben, viele Rollen“ (“Marcel Reich-Ranicki. One life, many roles” will be published to accompany the exhibition.

Press tour

Press tours can be arranged individually. Please register at presse@dnb.de

On 2 June 2022, 11:00, the curators Sylvia Asmus and Uwe Wittstock will offer a press tour of the exhibition together with Carla Ranicki, Marcel Reich-Ranickis granddaughter.

Please register by 31 May 2022 to presse@dnb.de

Marcel Reich-Ranicki. One Life, Many Roles. An exhibition of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 at the German National Library
3 June 2022 until 14 January 2023

Monday to Friday 9-21:30
Saturday 10-17:30
Closed on Sundays and from 24 December to 31 December 2022
Admission free.

Exhibition opening: Thursday, 2 June 2022, 19:00

Welcome speech: Frank Scholze, Director General of the German National Library
Greetings: Karin Wolff, executiv Director of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain
Greetings: Carla Ranicki and Ida Thompson, Marcel Reich-Ranickis granddaughter and daughter-in-law
Introduction to the exhibition: Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Head of the German Exile Archive 1945-1933 and Dr. Uwe Wittstock, author and journalist.
With a reading by actor and speaker Jochen Nix
Presentation: Eva Demski, author
Presentation: Jürgen Kaube, Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung
Musical accompaniment: Hagit Halaf (violin) and Christoph Langheim (viola) from „Bridges – Musik verbindet“

Registration required at: www.dnb.de/veranstaltungfrankfurt

Further information, including on visiting the exhibition during the coronavirus pandemic, available at: https://www.dnb.de/mrr

Background

The task of the German National Library’s German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is to collect publications and documents relating to German-language exile during the Nazi era. The publications include all books and brochures in the fields of literature, politics, science and Jewish emigration written by German-speaking emigrants abroad between 1933 and 1950 along with the magazines they published. The documents include personal legacies from German-speaking emigrants in all fields and professions, archives of exile organisations and individual autographs. Since March 2018, selected items from the German Exile Archive's own collection have been on display in the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” in Frankfurt am Main.

The German Exile Archive’s events and temporary exhibitions take a closer look at other themes and thus draw parallels between historic exile and current phenomena.

Project manager: Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Head of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 Curators: Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Dr. Uwe Wittstock
Exhibition design: Space 4 GmbH, Stuttgart

Contact

Images for editorial use

Images for editorial use with reports on the exhibition. Press image material is only available in German.