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Germany buys California home where writer Thomas Mann lived in exile Germany buys California home where writer Thomas Mann lived in exile | |
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Germany has bought the California home that once belonged to the Nobel prize-winning author Thomas Mann and plans to turn it into a “centre for transatlantic dialogue”, after fears it was being sold off as a “teardown” – of value only for the land on which it stands – caused outrage among German fans of the author. | Germany has bought the California home that once belonged to the Nobel prize-winning author Thomas Mann and plans to turn it into a “centre for transatlantic dialogue”, after fears it was being sold off as a “teardown” – of value only for the land on which it stands – caused outrage among German fans of the author. |
Three thousand curators and writers – including Nobel laureate Herta Müller – signed an online petition for the house to be saved after it went on the market at an asking price of $15m. | Three thousand curators and writers – including Nobel laureate Herta Müller – signed an online petition for the house to be saved after it went on the market at an asking price of $15m. |
The sale was secured earlier this week after a period of hard bargaining, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told the paper the building had been a “home for many Germans who worked toward a better future for their country, paved the way for an open society and laid the foundations for common transatlantic values”. | The sale was secured earlier this week after a period of hard bargaining, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told the paper the building had been a “home for many Germans who worked toward a better future for their country, paved the way for an open society and laid the foundations for common transatlantic values”. |
“We want to revive the Thomas Mann villa in that spirit,” he said. The renovation of the house is expected to take two years. | “We want to revive the Thomas Mann villa in that spirit,” he said. The renovation of the house is expected to take two years. |
Mann fled Germany with his family in 1933, when Hitler came to power, moving first to Switzerland and then to the US, where he had the five-bedroom house in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles built to his own specifications. | Mann fled Germany with his family in 1933, when Hitler came to power, moving first to Switzerland and then to the US, where he had the five-bedroom house in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles built to his own specifications. |
He described the project as “a reckless and self-willed prank”, writing to his brother Heinrich that he had bought “a property with seven palms and many citrus trees”. | He described the project as “a reckless and self-willed prank”, writing to his brother Heinrich that he had bought “a property with seven palms and many citrus trees”. |
Designed by the modernist architect JR Davidson, Mann’s house hosted a group of exiled German writers, artists and intellectuals of the Exilliteratur, a group including Bertolt Brecht and Bruno Frank, who would gather there and at the nearby home of writer Lion Feuchtwanger, the Villa Aurora, also in Pacific Palisades. | Designed by the modernist architect JR Davidson, Mann’s house hosted a group of exiled German writers, artists and intellectuals of the Exilliteratur, a group including Bertolt Brecht and Bruno Frank, who would gather there and at the nearby home of writer Lion Feuchtwanger, the Villa Aurora, also in Pacific Palisades. |
One of the visitors he received there was a 14-year-old Susan Sontag, who turned up for tea with a schoolfriend in 1947 and later wrote about the experience for the New Yorker. | One of the visitors he received there was a 14-year-old Susan Sontag, who turned up for tea with a schoolfriend in 1947 and later wrote about the experience for the New Yorker. |
As they waited for tea and cake to be served in Mann’s study, Sontag observed “the cluttered table, pens, inkstand, books, papers … and books, books, books in the floor-to-ceiling shelves that covered two of the walls”. | As they waited for tea and cake to be served in Mann’s study, Sontag observed “the cluttered table, pens, inkstand, books, papers … and books, books, books in the floor-to-ceiling shelves that covered two of the walls”. |
She continued: “To be in the same room with Thomas Mann was thrilling … But I was also hearing the siren call of the first private library I had ever seen.” | She continued: “To be in the same room with Thomas Mann was thrilling … But I was also hearing the siren call of the first private library I had ever seen.” |
In 1952, sensing that McCarthyism was putting an end to American liberalism, the family returned to Europe. Mann died three years later in Switzerland. | In 1952, sensing that McCarthyism was putting an end to American liberalism, the family returned to Europe. Mann died three years later in Switzerland. |
As the house was put up for sale in August this year, New Yorker critic Alex Ross wrote: “The ‘magic villa’ on San Remo, as the German press calls it, is more than the home of a great writer: it is a symbol of a fraught period in American history, one that gave a refugee from nazism feelings of deja vu.” | As the house was put up for sale in August this year, New Yorker critic Alex Ross wrote: “The ‘magic villa’ on San Remo, as the German press calls it, is more than the home of a great writer: it is a symbol of a fraught period in American history, one that gave a refugee from nazism feelings of deja vu.” |