The installation “Marta” at the Museum Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the Villa Oppenheim is a fascinating tribute to the life of Marta Feuchtwanger. During a three-month stay in Marta Feuchtwanger's room at Villa Aurora, Schönberger deeply immersed herself in Marta's world: she slept and worked in the same rooms, looked out of the same window, and saw herself in the same mirror.

In the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library, she came across personal items of Marta's, which were stored in small, seemingly arbitrarily assembled boxes. Schönberger staged and documented these objects to gain a deeper insight into Marta's life and tell her story in a new, intimate way.

Accompanying her installation “Marta,” Villa Aurora alumna Sonya Schönberger holds a conversation with Marianne Heuwagen:

Marianne Heuwagen shares her personal memories of Marta Feuchtwanger, with whom her friendship began in the late 1970s. Heuwagen lived on the American West Coast since her university days, where she established herself as a journalist, reporting for the ARD broadcasting stations, DIE ZEIT, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung. For NDR, Heuwagen conducted extensive interviews with Marta, which she compiled in the feature “Ein halbes Jahrhundert im Exil.” (“Half a century in exile”)

After returning to Germany in 1986 and Marta's death in 1987, Heuwagen dedicated herself to the preservation of Villa Aurora as a cultural monument of exile. As a founding member of the Friends of Villa Aurora and long-time board member of the association, she brings a deep understanding of Marta Feuchtwanger's legacy and her influence on the cultural landscape of Pacific Palisades.

We warmly invite you to discover the world of Marta Feuchtwanger through the eyes of two women who know her in different ways.