Symposium: 'Militant Humanism'. Thomas Mann's fight for democracy

In the run-up to the exhibition "Thomas Mann: In the Burning Landscape of Democracy - Life. Politics. Present", a central concept of Thomas Mann's political engagement during his time in exile (1933-1945) will be presented by experts and examined for its applicability today. The starting point for this is Prof. Dr. Frido Mann's "Zehn Wege eines kämpferischen Humanismus" (Würzburg 2025).

Dr. Dirk Heißerer outlines the history of the term in the context of the utopia of a world state and the warning against the era of dehumanization. Political scientist Prof. Dr. Ursula Münch, Director of the Akademie für Politische Bildung in Tutzing, asks about the possible topicality of this term. Prof. Dr. Winfried Nerdinger, founding director of the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism and currently President of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, explains Thomas Mann's role in the concept of "Place and Memory" in Munich and in the permanent exhibition of the NSDM. After the lunch break, the focus will be on transatlantic dialog. Prof. Dr. Hans R. Vaget (Northampton, Massachusetts) will introduce the "itinerant lecturer [Wanderredner] of democracy" in the USA and the radio speaker to "Listen, Germany! [Deutsche Hörer!]". Dr. Sebastian Hansen (Düsseldorf) describes how Thomas Mann is currently perceived. Eckhard Zimmermann (Polling) and Dr. Matthias Stuber (Munich) will explain the exhibition at TUM (December 2025 to January 2026).

The symposium is open to the public and is held in German. Registration is required:

To registration

Thomas Mann: In the Burning Landscape of Democracy - Life. Politics. Present

On the occasion of Thomas Mann's 150th birthday, the TUM Center for Culture and Arts and Thomas Mann Forum Munich e.V. is realizing an interdisciplinary project focusing on the question of how Thomas Mann's political commitment and his resistance to National Socialism can be experienced anew today.

The overall project comprises four interlinked components:

• an exhibition at the TUM-Immatrikulationshalle (December 8 - January 15),
• an academic symposium (November 3),
• an accompanying publication
• the guest performance "Zauberberg :: Expedition in die Gegenwart", an immersive VR theater production (early 2026, date tba).
• an accompanying program 

The overall project is supported by the TUM University Foundation and the "Arts meets Tech" fund of the Bavarian State Parliament. We would like to thank the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation for hosting the symposium.