2024 Thomas Mann House Program Highlights

Opera & Democracy: Transatlantic Conversations and Concerts

The starting point of the event series was the commemoration of the reopening of the legendary Berlin Kroll Opera in 1924. The Kroll Opera was one of the leading opera houses of the interwar period and today symbolizes both the renewal of opera in the 20th century and the fight for democratic values in times of crisis. The discussions addressed, among other things, aspects of the democratization of opera, questions of power and representation, as well as academic challenges and the opportunities institutions have in giving a voice to persecuted and underrepresented artists. Accompanying concerts presented excerpts from rarely performed stage works, some by persecuted artists, some sourced from archives, and some as world premieres. The series consisted of a total of 10 events, beginning with the opening at the Thomas Mann House on January 20, 2024, and culminating with the upcoming finale at the Hamburg State Opera on January 31, 2025.

The series was curated by Thomas Mann Fellow and musicologist Kai Hinrich Müller. Cooperation partners included, among others, the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, the Leo Baeck Institute in New York, the Dresden Music Festival, and the Bauhaus Archive – Museum of Design in Berlin.

An overview of all program items and participants can be found here.

55 Voices for Democracy - With Patty Jenkins

In a special episode of the podcast 55 Voices for Democracy, Thomas Mann Fellow and journalist Aida Baghernejad, along with journalist Tom Zoellner, spoke with award-winning U.S. director Patty Jenkins at the Thomas Mann House. Before a live audience, they discussed Jenkins' groundbreaking work for women in film, the central role of Wonder Woman in feminist superhero movies, and how the German entertainment industry can learn from Hollywood. The event was held in collaboration with the Los Angeles Review of Books.

A recording of the conversation can be found here.

Election Season 2024

In the Super Election Year of 2024, our Fellow cohorts included social scientists, political scientists, and journalists. As part of our annual theme, "Democracy & Vulnerability," the elections in Germany and the USA, as well as the questioning of the democratic liberal order, were analyzed and discussed from various perspectives. This took place, among other things, during the two-day workshop "Threats to Democracies – Media and the 2024 Elections in Transatlantic Perspective," held in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, featuring Ulrike Klinger, Johannes Gerschewski, and Pola Lehmann.

Additionally, there were discussion panels and lectures by Andrea Römmele on "Megatrends and Democracy." The events of the U.S. presidential election and the challenges to democratic processes were reflected upon by some of our Fellows in the series "Dispatches from L.A.," published in cooperation with ZEIT ONLINE.

Previous guest contributions from the series can be read in the ZEIT ONLINE archive.