Thomas Mann's 150th birthday: A year of literary celebration in Freiburg!

Thomas Mann's 150th birthday: A year of literary celebration in Freiburg!

The 150th birthday of the famous writer Thomas Mann will be celebrated on June 6, 2025, and preparations for this are already in full swing. In this context, a comprehensive lecture series entitled “Thomas Mann - Stages of his work” will take place at the University of Freiburg, which begins on April 23, 2025. Loud uni-freiburg.de The lecture series will be by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Koopmann opens. His opening speech is entitled “Thomas Mann: His work – and the answers to his time”.

This series of lectures aims to analyze Mann's great novels such as “Buddenbrooks” and “Doctor Faustus” in depth. The observations are intended to combine literary, aesthetic and historical-political perspectives in order to make Thomas Mann's legacy tangible for today. This literary reception is supplemented by a variety of events.

Examples of planned events

A significant event will be the conversation concert on Thomas Mann and Beethoven, which will take place on July 17, 2025 in the Archaeological Collection of the University of Freiburg. In an additional cultural highlight, the famous film adaptation of “Death in Venice” directed by Luchino Visconti will be shown in collaboration with the aka-Filmclub.

In addition to the lecture series, a wide range of courses are also offered as part of the Studium generale in the summer semester. This includes excursions to regional learning locations such as the Opfinger Bienengarten and the “Exploratorium Lebendiges Wittental”. In addition, seminars are held on several evenings, with the seminar on Thomas Mann's stories being particularly highlighted. It is emphasized that no special requirements are necessary to take part in these seminars; only a moderate participation fee is charged.

Interdisciplinary approaches and cultural reflection

Another highlight of the program is the series “Books to Talk About,” in which important non-fiction books are presented, such as “A Farm and Eleven Siblings” by Prof. Dr. Ewald Frie or “Adorno’s Heirs” by Dr. Jörg Later. At the same time, there is the series “Conversations about selected productions”, which deals with current theater productions in Freiburg, including the premiere of the opera “Alles durch M.O.W.”.

The Colloquium politicum, also part of the program, offers a wide range of individual lectures and panel discussions that deal with current political issues. For example, an important discussion entitled “1945 | 2025: Postwar Times” will begin on April 28, 2025. On May 7th, Prof. Dr. Norbert Frei from the University of Jena gave an important speech at the address of former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker on May 8, 1985.

In this context and beyond the Freiburg Africa Talks, the Colloquium politicum will address topics such as the role of Southeast Asia, different political styles and current identity politics. The five series of lectures, which address current and historical topics, also include critical content, such as “The problem of sovereignty in the European Union” and the analysis “Freiburg and the region in the time of National Socialism”.

In addition, a lecture series entitled “Read Thomas Mann!” will be held at the Institute for German Studies at the TU Braunschweig. takes place, which focuses on literary and essayistic texts by the author. This lecture, starting on April 26, 2022, aims to re-read Thomas Mann's work from a literary and cultural perspective. Scientists from TU Braunschweig as well as international guests from Mann research will take part in this lecture to discuss topics such as time structures, gender models and migration in literature tu-braunschweig.de reported.

The openness of the lectures - which do not require any specific knowledge of literary studies - offers the opportunity to attract a wider audience for Mann's works and thus promote a deeper understanding of the contemporary relevance of his literary creations. This not only honors the importance of Thomas Mann, but also focuses on his influence on the literature and culture of the 20th century.