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Studierendenkonferenz Worte und/als Widerstand: Thomas Mann und die Deutschen Hörer.
In the winter semester 2025/2026, the Chair of Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research is organizing a student conference as part of the block seminar “Words and/as Resistance: Thomas Mann and the German Listeners”, conducted by Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass, Dr. Sebastian Huhn, Dr. Sebastian Musch, Annika Heyen and Jessica Wehner.
Between 1940 and 1945, Thomas Mann addressed the German population in Nazi Germany through monthly radio broadcasts via the BBC. These “German Listeners!” broadcasts represent a significant source for the history of intellectual resistance from exile. The seminar examines Thomas Mann’s radio speeches as a historical document of the exile experience, as a medium of transnational communication in wartime, and as an attempt at political influence under the conditions of the Nazi dictatorship.
The seminar focuses on questions regarding the reach and reception of these broadcasts, their function in the context of Allied propaganda, and their significance for German exile history. We analyze how Mann attempted to influence German society from his Californian exile, what messages and positions he conveyed, and how he commented on the developments of the war and Nazi rule. In doing so, we also examine the practical conditions of radio production in exile, the collaboration with the BBC, and the question of the actual listenership in the Reich.
The seminar works intensively with original sources and places Mann’s radio speeches in the broader context of exile journalism, the course of the war, and the history of resistance against National Socialism. Methodologically, we combine media-historical, migration-historical, and political-historical approaches.
On 16 January, the first seminar day took place together with Dr. Anneke Thiel. The focus was on an initial engagement with the sources and an introduction to Thomas Mann’s life and work.
On 6 March, a joint workshop day took place where students could exchange ideas about their topics and presentations with each other and with the instructors.
On 7 March, 9am-5pm, the student conference will take place in room 15/130. Interested parties are cordially invited!
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Programme
9:00 am: Welcome (Christoph Rass)
9:10 am: Panel I – Knowledge of the Unimaginable: Thomas Mann, the Holocaust and Allied Reporting (Chair: Annika Heyen)
Gesa Landwehr: German Listeners! as Part of the German Service
Lea Horstmann: “Between Enlightenment and Appeal: The Representation of Nazi Crimes and National Socialist Persecution Policy in Thomas Mann’s Radio Addresses ‘German Listeners!’”
Felix Ruholl: Thomas Mann’s Reporting on the Holocaust Throughout the Radio Addresses “German Listeners!”
Anna Louisa Asbrock: “[The] most infamous tyranny that has ever threatened the world.” – The Representation of National Socialism in Thomas Mann’s “German Listeners” Speeches
10:50 am: Break
11:00 am: Panel II – The “Evil”, “Civilization” and “Humanism”: Intellectual History Perspectives on Thomas Mann (Chair: Sebastian Musch)
Gloria Sherif: “The Absolutely Diabolical”. Linguistic and Moral Conception of Evil in Thomas Mann’s “German Listeners!”
Daria Ivanov: Humanity as the Touchstone of Civilization: Humanism and the “Jewish Question” in Thomas Mann’s BBC Speech of 27 September 1942
Timo Diener: Culture and Civilization in Thomas Mann
12:20 pm: Lunch break
1:00 pm: Panel III – Luminaries, Democracy and War Enthusiasm: Thomas Mann and Realpolitik (Chair: Sebastian Huhn)
Luca Herrmann: Thomas Mann and his Relationship to US President Roosevelt in “German Listeners!”
Pieter Rehfeld: From Conservative to Moral Democrat? Thomas Mann’s Understanding of Democracy in the Radio Speeches “German Listeners!”
Leon Schmitz: Flaming Enthusiasm – Thomas Mann’s Engagement with Militarism and War Enthusiasm in the Face of Two World Wars.
2:20 pm: Break
2:30 pm: Panel IV – Thomas Mann and the German Listeners: Role Conceptions and Relationships (Chair: Jessica Wehner)
Alexander Pracht: Anxiety and Fear in Thomas Mann’s Rhetoric
Emma Breulmann: Thomas Mann’s Role Conception in “German Listeners!”
Jennifer Funk: Thomas Mann’s Relationship to the “German Listener!”
Carlotta Pioch: Role Conception and Role Diversity
4:10 pm: Closing Discussion (Christoph Rass)
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