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Famous persons and artists

"Die Buddenbrooks" and the Mann family

Buddenbrook House in the Hanseatic city of Luebeck remembers its two great sons, the writers Heinrich (1871 - 1950) and Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955). They were raised in Mengestrasse 4, which is also the setting of the 1901-published novel "Die Buddenbrooks". Thomas Mann awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for this remarkable piece of work in 1929.
Today Buddenbrook House is known as one of the most extraordinary museums for literatur in the world and is the only literature project of its kind worldwide. It was created and opened on the occasion of the Expo2000.
A huge number of pictures, film material and audio extracts provide an excellent insight into the life and work of the Mann family.

Guenter Grass

Guenter Grass, born in Danzig in 1927, has lived not far from the Hanseatic city of Luebeck since 1995. His office is located in Luebeck, Glockengiesserstrasse 21. This is also the place where Guenter-Grass-House opened its doors in 2002.
Guenter-Grass-House introduces visitors to the works of this well-known Nobel Prize winner (1999), author, playwright, poet, graphic artist, painter and sculptor. It shows the many sides and faces of Guenter Grass.
The exhibition not only presents pieces of his written work but also sketches, paintings, water colour pictures, etchings, lithographic art and sculptures.

Walter Kempowski

The writer Walter Kempowski was born in Rostock in 1929 and died in 2007. He mainly became famous for his series of novels known as the "German chronicles" (Deutsche Chroniken), which are strongly autobiographically influenced. He is regarded one of the most important authors of contemporary German literature.
The Kempowski-Archive is a remarkable collection interesting to those interested in history and literature alike. It is also the home of Kempowski's extensive Mecklenburg-Library. The books collected here were all used for research purposes and background knowledge for his novels.
Additionally, visitors will find a reading corner where you can browse through a number of author's manuscripts and other materials.

Pioneer of human aviation - Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal (1848 - 1896) was convinced that one day he would be able to fly. At a very young age, he and his brother started flight experiments. He invented and constructed various gliders. In 1893 one of his designs took him an incredible 250 metres through the air.
The 100th anniversary of flying was celebrated in 1991. On this occasion Lilienthal's hometown Anklam opened a museum in his honour. It tells the story of human aviation from the very beginnings of wanting to fly to eventually being able to be airborne.
In the museum 14 of Lilienthal's constructions are exhibited, amongst them the very first ever serial plane production in the history of mankind.

Hugo Eckener

In the 1890s Hugo Eckener (1868 - 1954) worked as a journalist for the "Frankfurter Zeitung" and was a great fan of Graf Zeppelin. When Zeppelin was looking for an expert in public relations in 1908, Eckener was his man.
He was also one of the co-founders of the German Airship Corporation (DELAG). From 1911 onwards he was head of pilot training of the company. Eckener himself completed more than 2000 flights. On 11 August 1912 he travelled by the airship "Hansa" to pay a visit to his hometown of Flensburg. In 1924 he crossed the Antlantic in a non-stop 80-hour flight in a Zeppelin LZ 126. He was the third to accomplish this after a British plane and the British airship R34.
In tribute to his work and achievements, the cities of New York and Flensburg awarded Eckener honorary citizenship.