March 2001 - Nr. 3
German Briefs
TWIG - One of Germany’s most important centres for literary research is developing a new wing dedicated to modern literature. The Marbach Institute, which houses the German Literary Archive and the Schiller National Museum, plans to open a museum on twentieth-century writers in 2005. "Along with the new building, we want to seek new ways of exhibiting and pay more attention to presentation," says institute director Ulrich Ott. Photographs, films, and audio recordings will be included in the displays, together with documents from writers including Franz Kafka, Carl Zuckmayer, Sarah Kirsch and Paul Celan.
A new foundation to be established next month will help preserve Schloss Oberwiederstedt (Saxony-Anhalt), the home of the poet Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1891), known to readers as Novalis. The residence where Novalis spent most of his life became a home for the elderly after the Second World War, but it was later abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. Local citizens prevented its destruction in 1987. It is now a museum and research centre. On March 25, the 200th anniversary of the author’s death, the Hardenberg home will gain the support of an endowment provided by Arved Grieshaber, a Stuttgart psychologist and member of the International Novalis Society.
Luebeck’s next literary venture will be devoted to a
living author, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Guenter Grass. Luebeck mayor
Bernd Saxe signed an agreement with Grass on Sunday (February 11) on the
details of the forthcoming Guenter Grass House. The exhibition space and
study centre is scheduled to open on Grass’s 75th birthday, October 16.
Rotating exhibits will include drawings and paintings by the author and
focus on the link in Grass’s work between literature and the visual arts.
After signing the agreement, Grass said he considered it a pleasure to be
able to decide what will happen with some of his work later on,
"because everyone, including myself, kicks the bucket someday."
