Thomas Mann International – network to consolidate research and promote exchange
Five institutions from four countries have joined forces to establish the Thomas Mann International (TMI) network, driving exchange and promoting research, discourse and education.
The fact that Thomas Mann continues to represent world literature, European culture and humanistic values on an international level today is borne out by the external pageThomas Mann International network with its programmatic focus on stimulating debate today as well as consolidating and making accessible holdings, research results and archives that are scattered around the world.
Five houses, five stations in life, one objective
The five internationally renowned institutions have set themselves the goal of virtually merging their collection holdings on the joint research platform external pageTMI Research, which is operated by the ETH Library. This cooperative effort is promoted by the institutions through various event formats as well as through science and exhibitions. They also actively contribute their respective expertise as archives, libraries, museums, cultural centres, residences and memorial sites.
Search in the holdings of the five houses
You can now perform central research in the holdings of all institutions and access the archival holdings that have already been digitised. Take advantage of the virtual – and unique – reconstruction of the Mann holdings. Access is free of charge for the interested public. At the same time, you will find the stations in the life of the great writer and Nobel Prize winner reflected in those institutions.
- Buddenbrookhaus/Heinrich and Thomas Mann Centre, Lübeck: One of the world’s most famous literary museums is dedicated to Thomas Mann’s novel “Buddenbrooks” and the Mann family of writers. The external pageBuddenbrookhaus is a place of education and a forum for debates on literature and social issues.
- Monacensia in the Hildebrandhaus, Munich: The internationally acclaimed research centre external pageMonacensia holds, among other things, the complete archives of Klaus and Erika Mann as well as more than 800 documents of Thomas Mann. The focus is on the teaching of literature and the dialogue between past and present.
- Thomas Mann Archives of ETH Zurich, Zurich: The Thomas Mann Archives own the most original holdings on Thomas Mann in the world and are the most important research centre specialising in the author. Online: online.tma.ethz.ch has indexed all manuscripts, correspondence and press articles; tma.e-pics.ethz.ch has over 2,000 non-copyrighted photos; nb-web.tma.ethz.ch provides access to Thomas Mann’s library.
- Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles: Now the residence of the Federal Republic of Germany, which facilitates dialogue on fundamental political, social and cultural issues of the present and future, the external pageThomas Mann House was the residence of the writer, who immigrated to the USA in 1938, from 1942 to 1952. It is here that he wrote “Joseph the Provider and Doctor Faustus” and also recorded most of his BBC radio broadcasts to his “German Listeners!”.
- Thomo Manno kultūros centras/Thomas Mann Cultural Centre, Nida, Lithuania: The external pageThomas Mann Cultural Centre promotes exchange on the history, present and future of Europe, such as through international scientific seminars focusing on German studies, remembrance and cultural history, as well as translation workshops to support young translators and literary exchange.
Join the annual conference of the German Thomas Mann Society
At this year’s annual conference of the German Thomas Mann Society on Monday, 20 September, starting at 7.00 p.m., the result of the virtual reconstruction of the Mann holdings by the new network will be presented for the first time.
Follow the virtual panel discussion live
See Olga Grjasnowa, Jonas Lüscher and Usama Al Shahmani live at the Thomas Mann Archives in Zurich on Monday, 20 September, from 8.00 p.m., as part of the annual conference. These contemporary authors will discuss the continuities and ruptures that define Thomas Mann’s work from a present-day perspective, as well as what constitutes the writer’s specific modernity and whether it is still relevant.
“Literature modern – Thomas Mann today. Contemporary authors take a stand!”
Under this motto, ten contemporary authors have been invited to discuss Thomas Mann, his works and the questions of his time. The positions and essays by Katharina Adler, Usama Al Shahmani, Priya Basil, Nora Bossong, Olga Grjasnowa, Eveline Hasler, Jonas Lüscher, Norbert Gstrein, Jindrich Mann and Mithu Sanyal will be available successively as short films as of September at external pagethomasmanninternational.com.
Want to find out more about TMI?
The Thomas Mann Archives team can be contacted by e-mail: