Buddenbrookhaus

Description

In the centre of Lübeck’s old town stands the Buddenbrookhaus (Heinrich-und-Thomas-Mann-Zentrum), which serves as a memorial and research site for the Mann family and is supported by the Kulturstiftung Hansestadt Lübeck. The house is also home to the Förderverein Buddenbrookhaus as well as the Deutsche Thomas Mann-Gesellschaft, the Heinrich Mann-Gesellschaft, the Golo Mann-Gesellschaft and the Erich-Mühsam-Gesellschaft.

The building at Mengstraße 4 is oriented toward the Marienkirche; its construction history goes back to an entry from 1289. The late Baroque façade visible today bears the date 1758 above the portal and the inscription “Dominus providebit”. Originally, a complex extending far into the block combined residential and commercial spaces, with a representative bel étage, a side wing serving as a residential tract, courtyard and garden areas, and a baroque vaulted cellar. Figures above the gable symbolize time and prosperity. As a result of its uses, business and storage were located in the front building, the living quarters on the first floor, and service and storage rooms on the lower storeys.

In 1842 the property passed into the ownership of the Mann family; the house remained the residence of several generations until 1891 and provides the biographical background for parts of the novel Buddenbrooks. After changing uses and occupants in the 20th century, the building was severely damaged in an air raid in 1942; only the façade with its blind window openings and the baroque cellar survived. In the late 1950s a reconstruction took place that altered the building’s volume and the levels of its interior spaces.

In 1991 the Hanseatic City of Lübeck acquired the house to develop it as the Heinrich-und-Thomas-Mann-Zentrum; the institution was officially opened in 1993. The centre brings together permanent exhibitions, temporary presentations, collections, a specialised library and an archive and presents itself as a place for scholarly and literary engagement. Since 2000 the permanent exhibitions “Die Manns – eine Schriftstellerfamilie” and “Die ‚Buddenbrooks‘ – ein Jahrhundertroman” have been installed; for the redesign the house received a Council of Europe award in 2002. The house remained open until the end of 2019; because of expansion and renovation work parts of the presentation were transferred to the Museum Behnhaus-Drägerhaus. Since 2003 the Buddenbrookhaus has awarded the Debütpreis des Buddenbrookhauses every two years.