Film premiere in the Literaturhaus: Buddenbrooks” for Mann’s 150th birthday!

Film premiere in the Literaturhaus: Buddenbrooks” for Mann’s 150th birthday!

An exciting event is just around the corner: On June 18, 2025, at 6:30 p.m., the film screening of the documentary “Buddenbrooks. Thomas Mann and Lübeck” will take place in the Literaturhaus Villa Clementine in Wiesbaden. On the occasion of the famous writer's 150th birthday, the event, which is organized by the Wiesbaden Cultural Office in cooperation with Arte and the network of literary houses, will be a special highlight for literature and history enthusiasts. Wiesbaden.de reports that admission to the film screening is free and that there will also be a reading by historian and author Tilmann Lahme at 8 p.m. as part of the evening. Lahme will read from his biography “Thomas Mann. A Life” and thus give further insight into the life of the writer.

But what makes the documentary so special? Loud Wiesbaden is alive The film examines the creation and conflicts at the heart of Mann's famous novel “Buddenbrooks”. Published in 1901, the work was met with much outrage in Lübeck as citizens felt caricatured by the description of their city and its way of life. The famous work tells the story of the slow decline of a respected merchant family and takes place over four generations, from the heyday of the business to the tragic extinction of the family with the death of the last heir, Hanno. Thomas Mann, known for his profound descriptions of family dynamics and social change, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 for his entire work.

Experts analyze Mann's work

During the film screening, experts such as Caren Heuer, the director of the Buddenbrookhaus, literary critic Volker Weidermann and dramaturg John von Düffel will also have their say. They discuss the complex relationships within the Buddenbrook family and how personal ambitions influence family cohesion. In particular, the characters of Thomas, Christian and Tony Buddenbrook are analyzed in advance to show how their fates are intertwined with the fate of the family business. The interplay between reality and fiction is particularly highlighted in the documentary, which makes it possible to better understand the depth of Mann's literary work.

Another exciting aspect of the documentary is the exploration of Lübeck in the 19th century, which served as the backdrop for the events of the novel. The city is presented as a kind of protagonist whose own fate is inextricably linked to that of the Buddenbrooks. While in the novel the house on Mengstrasse serves as a symbol of tradition and decay, in the documentary Lübeck stands for the multitude of stories that lie hidden in the city's walls and streets.

The event at the Literaturhaus Villa Clementine promises not only to be entertaining, but also to provide a deep insight into the work of Thomas Mann and to illustrate his importance for German literary history. Anyone who is interested in literature and the history of one of the most important German figures of the 20th century should not miss this event. Further information can be found on the City of Wiesbaden website: Wiesbaden.de.