Focus Fall 1995.tif


154 Focu5 on Lileratllr 

guardianship . Yet th is outcome does not diminish Tony's role as the 
primary mediator of the Buddenhrook family history. In every as­
pect-caretaker, mediator, curator- she represents the character most 
involved with the family history. Moreover, she achieves this posi­
tion in spite of difficult obstacles: she is not a member of the 
Buddenhrook patriarchy) she is a woman in stratified nineteenth ceo­
tury bourgeois society, and twice-divorced, she is a social outcast. 
Tony'S role as historical mediator of the Buddenh rook patria rchy is 
also noteworthy because of the ironic detachment Thomas Mann dis­
plays toward her character. Who would look for the historical muse, 
the Clio, of the Buddenbrook family in a character who, for the most 
part , is depicted as a faa!? 

?he Universiry of Pennsylvania 

Note 

I A useful examination of the famil y album is to be found in Jochen 
Vogt, Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks (Munchen: Wilhelm Fink, 1983): 117-
121. Vogt analyzes the family album <lnd its relation to the Mann family 
Bible , providing examples where the similarity between the family album 
and the Mann family Bible can be clearly seen (1 18-120). Perhaps of most 
interest is VagI's assertion that the family album functions as an epic motif 
in the history of the Buddenbrooks family (120-121). 

Works Cited 

Hausen, Karin ··Family and Role-Division: The Polarization of Sexual Stereo­
types in the Nineteent.h Century: An Aspect o f the Dissociation of Work 
and Family Life." Ihe German Family: Essays on the Social History o/the 
Family in Nineteenth- alld Twentieth- Century Germany. Richard 1. Evans 
and W.R. Lee, eds. LandOlt: Billings and Sons, 198 1. 5 1-83. 

Mmm, Thomas. Gesammelte lVerke I. Oldenburg: Fischer, 1960. 
Nipperdey, Thomas Deutsche Geschichre 1866-1918, Bd. 1: Arheitswelt lind 

Biirgergeist. Miinchen: c.H. Beck, 1990. 
Ridley, Hugh. The Problemuric Bourgeois: Twentieth-CentlllY Criticism 011 

Thomas J\/alln 's Buddenbrooks and TIle Magic Mountain . Co lumbia, SC: 
Camden House, 199-1-. 

Zeller, Michael. BOrger oder Bourgeois? Eine lileratllr-soziologische Stu die 
Zll Thomas _Harms Buddenbrooks and Heillrich Afallns lm Schlaraffenland. 
Stuttgart: EmSl Klett, 1976 

The German Exile Writer in New York 
" City 1933-1945: A Case Study 

Gerhard Reich 

.. fter the "'Machrergreifung" by the Naz.is and the ri tual burning 
ri.!I of books in German universities in 1933, many people left their 
homes and fled mostly to neighboring countries. L iterary circles and 
journals were founded, especially in P rague and Paris. After the mili­
tary occupation of these countries, there were few places left [Q go, 
and the prospect of escap ing to the United States became more and 
more desirab le as a last refuge. T he Johnso n Act of 1925, however, 
restricted the number of immigrants admitted to the United States to 
a sma!! number, and it was increasingly difficuiL [Q obtain a visa. A 
written invitation and an affidavit , preferably from an influential 
American citiz.en, was necessary. For young and unknown writers 
this was hard to come by. But the famous representatives of anti-fas­
cist culture also needed support . The American PEN Club, Dorothy 
Parker and the Algonquin Ci rcle were very helpful in providing the 
necessary paperwork and support for those Gennan writers in dan­
ger. 

Tn the United States, there were two major centers: New York on 
the East Coast and Hollywood on the W est Coast. Tn H ollywood, 
several poets attemp ted to write movie scnpts and in general had ma­
jor d ifficulties adapting to the American movie industry. T he notori­
ously unsuccessful Bertold Brecht is only one example of a frus trated 
and disappointed European intellectual in ex ile, who felt disgust for 
the arti fi cial world of Hol!ywood. 1 Carl Zuckmayer hated the movie 
indust ry so much that he gave up writing and Eved the life of a recluse 
on a farm in the Green Mountains of Vermont.' 

In New York the situ ation was different. There was a large, well­
estab lished German-American popu lation living mostly in Yorkville 
on the Upper West Side, then cal!ed Litt!e Germany. Up to the first 
World War there had been a very active German social life in various 

Focus on Literatllr Vol. 2, No.2 (1995) 



156 Focl/S on Literatllr 

clubs and cafes, manifested in a large circulation of German newspa­
pers. The main newspaper for this German-American population in 
New York was the New Yorker StaalSZeilUng und Herold, a paper still 
being published today on a weekly basis. 

The new immigrants [rom Hitler's Germany scaled mainly in 
Washington Heights near the Cloisters and the George Washington 
Bridge. Because of its influx of refugees it was soon call ed "The Fourth 
Reich." They found their voice in a newspaper called the Al/jbaU. In 
order to understand the relationship between the newcomers and the 
well·established German-Americans, it is essenti al to examine the na­
ture of their respective publications, theAujbau and the Staat.szeiwng. 

In 1934, the New World Club started the newspaper Allfbau . The 
founders were Jewish Veterans of World War J.l The A lifball intended 
to give some practical suppOrt for the ever increasing number of refu­
gees arriving in New York. Many of them had no means of suppOrt. 
The AUfbal1 provided suppOrt in many ways and was intended (Q alle­
viate the pain of political persecution by providing a social net of 
German exiles, united by a common fate. Assimilation to the host 
country was a goal.4 ln order to lessen the cul ture shock, the Aufbau 
tOok the educational ap proach; in each issue there was a language col­
umn on the idiosyncrasies of typical American colloquialisms. The 
American political and legal systems were explained in lengthy ar­
ticles. Immigrants we re informed about their legal status as well as 
their rights and duties as "enemy aliens" during the war. The classified 
section offered job training and rental opportunities with German 
speaking families. German bakeries advertised the familiar varieties o f 
bread, and German cafes and restau rants announced soc ial gatherings. 

The Allfbau also had a column which was dedicated to finding 
missing famiiy members. It was an effort to reestablish communica­
tion fOf those who were separated during their escape from Europe. 
Although committed to the preservation of the German and Jewish 
humanistic tradition, the editors of the Alljball felt it was necessary to 
exp ress the loyalty the immigrants felt towards their host country. 
They urged their readers to pu rchase war bonds, and in 1942 they 
launched a huge campaign to collect money for a war plane 10 fight 
Hitler's army. By 1943 they had raised enough money and were able 
10 present the warplane to the United States Air Force as a token of 
theif suppOrt. They named the fighter "Loyalty." Before the Ameri-

German Exile Writer 157 

can invasion of Europe, ~aders of the Allfbatt collected aerial photo­
graphs, postcards and maps to help the army gai n orientation in Eu­
ropean territory. This endeavor was named "Aktion Landkane.'" 

The social as well as the intellectual activities of the German-Jew­
ish Club were also quite impressive. In additio n to dances and fest ivi­
ties associated with the Jewish calendar, such as a Hanukkah party or 
a New Year's dance, there were weekly lectures on various topics. Tn 
February 1934, for example, there was a lectu re on Franz Schubert 
and the Biedemleierzell, another Olle on the emancipation of women 
as a topic in modern literature, both in German, and a lecture in En­
glish with the riri e: "Facing the Jewish Future." 

The names of the gUI!St lecturers reflected the high intellectual 
level of these events. The announcements of these lectures are sad res­
timony of the expulsion of Jews from Germany. The list of speakers 
reads like a "Who's Who" of German intellectual and public life be­
fore Hider. The fact that these announcements always refer to the 
many merits of the guest speakers in the past tense is a bitter reminder 
of their expulsion. For example, the presenter of a lecture ent itl ed: 
"Jiidische Dichter deutscher Nation" was introduced: "Peter Flamm 
war ei ner der angesehendsten Schriftstel ler des vor Hitler-Deutschlands, 
Verfasser mehrerer Romane, Mitarbeiter des Berliner Tageblanes und 
Schriftfuhrer des P.E.N. - Clubs" Oanuary 1935: 3). 

New Yo rk was for many refugees the last stop in a long odyssey, 
and one of the few places left to go. It is iro llic t hat because of the 
persecution of Germany's intellectuals, the AuJbau Jlways had an abun· 
dance of tale nt available for its lectures and as free lance writl!rs. O ver 
the years, theAII./'hz1l grew from a small newsletter for its members [0 

the most important journal of the German-speaking exile community 
in the United Stales. As early as February 1935 theAlljbau was shipped 
to France, Switzerland, Holland, Spain. Palestine, and Germany. In 
Germany it was prohibited in December 1935. The Allfball comment : 
"'Wir betrachten dies als di e groBle Anerkennung, die unserer Zeitung 
zuteil geworden ist. Unseres Wissens ist ZUnl Beispiel der New Yorker 
Staameiumg noch nie die Ehre widerfahren, in Deutschland verbolen 
zu werden" (December 1935: 6). 

From December 1934 to February 1939 the Allfb.:l1l appeared 
monthly, inc reasing in volume from 8 10 over 20 pages. Airer lhe 
resolution of some financial difficultie.s in 1939, the A ufbau appeared 



158 Focus on Literafllr 

every week from February 1940 on. From the very beginning the 
A Ilfbat~ ~ante~ to be the voice for the "Other Germany." It published 
the oplOlon of those who wished to speak up against Hider's barbar. 
ism .wlthout ~enying German cuhur~. "Fur delltsche Kuhur gegen 
NazI Barbarel was also the slogan at the "Deutsch Amerikanischer 
Kulturbund," an organization closely linked to the activities of the 
paper. 

But the Alljball also took active part in solic iting opinions from 
the exile community. In its August 1935 issue it urged Thomas l\1ann, 
who had come to represent the humanistic spirit of the German intel. 
lect ro the American public, to take a stand agamst German Fascism. 
"Thomas Mann aber hat bisher, anders oIls sein beherztcr Bruder 
geschwiegen .... Weshalb hort man seine Srimme noch nicht i~ 
edlen ~hore derer, die das Weltgewissen gegen die ruchlose Schandung 
des GelStes und der Humanitat allfruren" (August 1935; 7). 

Later T homas Mann became one of the main cont ributo rs to the 
paper. His ch ildren, Klaus and Erika, gave lectures at the Club. Klaus 
Mann gave a talk in November 1936. The tide suggests that his lecture 
was a response to the provocat ive question his father had been asked 
by the Att/bau: "Warum versagen die Imellektuellen Delltschlands?" 
. But Thomas M an.n was not the only ren owned writer publishing 
~n the AJlfball~ The list of contributors is impressive, re:tlecting the 
Importance thIS paper had as a forum for the German exi les. The li st 
includes: H annah Arendt, J ulius Bab, Ferdinand Bruckner, Alfred 
D6blin, Alben Ehrenstein, Lion Feuchtwanger, Leonhard Frank, Yvan 
Go ll, H ermann Hesse, Richard H uelsenbeck, Alfred Kerr , H erman n 
Kesten, Klaus Mann, H einr ich Mann, Franz Werfel, Alfred 
Wolfenstein, Carl Zuckmayer, and Stefan Zweig. 

. Book review~ were an important part of the paper. Many books 
dlscu~sed dealt v.:nh the question of Jewish identity amidst Nazi per­
secution. 1n April 1935, for example, three books were discussed: One 
was a biography of Heinrich H eine by Max Brod. H e describes H eine 
as "einen Dichter der zweifachen Diaspora," one being Jewish and the 
other being a political exile in France. H eine's ambiguous love-hate 
relationship with Germany and his baptism as "Eintrinskane in die 
bu rgerliche Welt .. as he put it himself, were of immediate interest to 
th is generation of exi les (Ap ri l 1935: I I). 

~he ot~er two books discussed in this issue were a work by Alfred 
DablIn, entltledJiidische Emellerungand a book entit ledJiidische Kunst. 

German Exile Writer 159 

Both studies tried to explain the specific Jewish culture by retlecting 
on the religious background as a frame of reference. 

t-olany articles and book reviews dealt with the quest for a Jewish 
identity, but the preservation of German culture and language was 
equally important . Franz Werfel writes: 

Die besondere Allfgabe bestelH tiir mich noch in folgendem: es 
fallt dem Au/bau wie keiner anderen Zeitung die rtlicht der Be­
wahnlngdesdel.luchen Kl.IltlirgutCS Zli. Deshalb dan er keines ..... egs 
nur ein "Jiidisches FamilienblHt- sein. Er hat auch fur die politi­
schen Fllichdinge und fur die Menschen alls anderen Relig­
ionsgemeinschahen einzUlreten. Er muB den geistigen Besi[Z mit­
verwalten, derseit der Aufklarungszeit bis Hitlervon europaischen 
Menschen geschaffen worden ist. Gerade der AUjb.1U hat die ~ I is­
~ion, jene Spannllngen Zli erh~hen, die zu gro&en Schoptungen 
gefiihn und das KlIltudeben eines ganzen Jahrhundens geforll1t 
haben. Die Uberzeugung, daB diese Pflicht erful lt werden miisse, 
hat allch aUe wichtigen Alltoren bewogen, slch an def Arbeit fur 
das Blatt zu belei ligen. Qanuary 1942: 12) 

Some novels are publ ished completely, other JS excerpts. For ex­
ample F ranz. Werfel's April im Oktober and Lion Feucht wanger's Der 
Tag wlrd kommeu we[e published in serial form. PJns of othe r novels 
were primed, including Stefan H eym's novel aboUl the Naz.i occupa­
tion of Czechoslovak ia, Hosfages, Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustlls, and 
Alfred Dablin 's November 1918. 

Since literature played such an im portant ro le in the effons to 
keep up the "Other Germany," Aujbau tried to engage in a diAlogue 
with the traditional voice of the German American community in 
New York, the New Yorker Staat.52,eicung lind Herold. The Staatszelltlllg 
was the newspaper for the German-American population in "Little 
German." A politica l discussion about H itler's Fascism was careflilly 
avoided in the political sections of the papers. Alrhough traditionailly 
nationalistic and pro· Fascist, the Sraarszeltlmg trieJ to avoid any con­
fro ntation w ith the Jewish Aufball. H owever. Ihis confrontation, 
which did nOt take place in the political pan of the paper, emerges in 
the literature section . This demonst rates the importance of the arts as 
a. mea.ns of esrab li sh ing nati onal identity in a polit ically percarious 
Situation. 



160 Focus on Lileratur 

Allhaugh the Sttumzeittwg had many Jewish journalists in lead­
ing POSilions, it lacked a clear position on the political events in Nazi 
Germany. The Nurnberg Laws of 1935 were completely ignored in 
the political column. And the only context in which the Sraat.sztwmg 
acknowledged the destruction of thousands of businesses and priv.ne 
homes was in irs references to great buying opportunities for German 
A mericans in Germany. This advenisement appeared in the business 
section. 

According to the All/ball, the Sraalszeitllng did not openly pro­
mOle Nazi ideology. It was the policy of the Staalszellllllg to dismiss 
the voices of the victi ms of the Nazi regime as anti-German propa­
ganda and ro adapt the langmge of the official German press, with 
slogans such as "deutschstammig, deutschblu tig" etc. Reports about 
torture and persecution of the political opposition were reported in 
ind irect speech, to indicate the dubious nature of these reports. It was 
in its literary supplement that the political sympathies became most 
obvious: "(man1 weicht ... der Besprechung literarisch wenvoller 
Neuerscheinungen. deren Verfasser nicht ins Nazihorn staBen. 
konsequem aus,. .• wah rend man fUr Bekundungen des neuen 
deutschen Geistes jederzeit Neigung und Raum ubrig hat" (December 
1935, 5). 

On several occasions the A IIjb.:m tried to eng,lge the StaauzelfttTl8 
in a discussion :about the political events in Germany. In JUlle 1937 
the Aufbatt confronted the Staar.szeirung about its ambiguous language 
and position toward the role of the Jewish people in German culture. 
The SraalSZeilung declined to answer those questions. The A ufbau com­
ments: "die Scaauzelllmg ... hat loblicherweise auf den Versuch 
ven.ichtet. z.wischen schollenduftender Arteigenheit lind geschaftiger 
Berechnung den Eiertanz einer Erwiederung auhufiih_ren. Man hal 
einfach die Aussage verweigen und so die Klarheit geschaffen, nach 
der wi r riefen" Guly 1937: I) . 

Since direct political confrontation failed, a more sub tl e investiga­
tion was needed to determine the political outlook of the paper. Sur­
prisingly enough it was the literary supplement that revealed the anti· 
semitic attitude of wh ich the Aufball had been suspicious: " ... und 
t3tsachlich hat bis heute der Judenhass nur in z.wei Redaktionsabteil· 
u ngen seine Fratzezum Fenster hinausgestreckt: im 'Briefkasten' sowie 
in der Literarur U$'W. Sektion des Sonnragsblanes . "~ 

German Exile Writer 161 

Therefore the Attfball came to a devastating conclusion about the 
Scaarszeilllng: 

Das Dritte Reich hat an der New Yorker Sraatszeiwng einen Ruck­
hah, wie ihn sich die Naz.is nicht besser wiinschen konnen .. Wenn 
sich die Hitlerei in der wichtigsten dieses Lmdestieter eingetressen 
bat und die Zersenung des alten deutschen Vereinswesens weiter 
fortgeschritten ist alsan irgend einem anderen Platz der Vereinigten 
Staaten, so ist di es zu einem entscheidenden Teil dem genannten 
Blatt zuzuschreiben. (December 1935: 5) 

This rivalry and clash of opinion between the twO papers can be inter­
preted as an expression of the different atliludes their respective clien­
tele had towards poli tical events in Germany. 1t shows how literaHlre 
constitu tes an identity in a foreign environment . Therefore the liter­
ary debate between the (wo papers takes on the function of a political 
confrontation, which was careful ly avoided by the Sraal5leililng. The 
literary supplements take on the additional dimension of defining the 
ethical and political values, the identity of an ethnic group." In this 
respect :an investigation of the literary section of the A ttfbau and the 
ScaalSZewmg will yield valuable information on the interaction be­
tween the well ~stabl i shed German-American population and the in· 
flux of Jewish and political refugees from Nazi Germany. 

The University of Pennsylvania 

Notes 

I See the Hollywood Eleglel/. 
1 See his JUlobiography Ais war'$ em SlIick VOIl mir (Frank tu rt; Fischer 

Verlag, 1969), as well as his wife's account of the time, Die Farm /II den 
J;,millen Bergen (Frankfun: Fi scher, 1956). . 

) "S ie STanden dem Reichsbund jiidischer Frontsoldaten nahe. Ell' 
Bekenmnis deutscher JlIden W ill Deutschtum schien damals (als der Verein 
gegrundet w\lrde) aogebracln- 030\l3ry 1935: I). 

+ "ner Zweck des Klubs ist die Her-.ulbildung sei ner Mitglieder ZlI gmen 
amerikilnischen Bi:irgern und zu selbstbewufhen Juden ... " Statute I, in the 
editorial of each issue. 

sit continues; ~Diese, diez.w3f Hir Bubo-Schund Besprechungsr.nun hdl, 
dagegen das Rezensions- Exemplar \'on ~'Iark Waldmanns 'Goethe and the 



162 FOells on Literalllr 

Jews. A Chall enge to Hitl erism' eisig zurucksandte, ist (reilich fli r ihr 
Ve rhalten vom Schicksal berei ts hart gezlichtigt wo rden: als die Reddktion 
nach einem historischen Roman zum Preise ihres hochh ei ligen Fridericus 
suchte, vemgte ihr unfeh lbarer RJ.sseinslin kl . . . so griindlich, daa sie das 
Erzeugnis einer voll judi::chen Fede!" erkor ... 1- Ouly 1937: 2). 

· ParOl.llels to Giinthe r Wallrafis investiga tion of the Bild ZeilUng ue 
striking. Wallr.l.fi tries to prove that the polit ical message of the paper is to 
be found in the sports sect ion. 

Ludwig Tieck and the Renaissance: 
Q uestions of Canon 

on the Cusp of Realism 

Jennifer Cizik Marshall 

~ ver the years, scholars have bestowed a pletho ra of names and 
I.!!W t itl es upon Ludwig Tieck, including, blll cen ainly not limited 
10, "Konig der Romamik," "Vater der Romamik , n "das Schulbeispiel 
flir den romamischen Character" (SlOpp 256) . "the 'invemor' ot 
\YIaldeinsamkeit" and "rhe originat o r of the mondbeglanue 
Zaubernach," (Gries (57). What arises from thi s li sting is an info rmal 
confirmation of the commonly held notion that Tieck's oeuvre be· 
longs part and parcel [Q the Romamic movement. Yet for all of the 
seeming agreement abot][ Tieck's role as an originator and main pro· 
ponent of the Romantic spirit, there is still a lot of controversy among 
scholars about his work.s. One pithy summation of the problem claims 
t hat Tieck has never been "als geistige Einheil erfalh worden, sondern 
immer romamischer Torso geblieben- (Thalmann 117). 

This image of the to rso, something broken and incomplete, refers 
to the status of Tieck criticism in which hi s early works, with thei r 
Waldeinsamkeic and Zwbernachl, have come 10 be so far privileged 
above his later production as to leave his most mature writings in a 
shadow of comparative critical neglect. To give yet another critica l 
summation: "Victoria Accorombona, Ludwig Tieck's Meisterwerk ... 
ist heute fast vergessen" (Taraba 329). This may seem to be an oxymo­
ron , that a "Meisterwerk" can be "vergesse n," but a quick look al lhe 
criticism bears thi s out. For example: in two of the standard literary 
biographi es of Tieck, Edwin Zeydel's 1935 Lltdwig Tieck, the GemUlII 
RomamtclSt and Roger Paulin's 1985 Llldwlg Tleck, a Literary Blogra. 
pby, a total of seven pages are devoted to di scussion oi VlltoYia 
A ccorombo,14. Perhaps even more disturbing is the fac t that these seven 
pages also happen to be riddl ed with incorrect summari es of lhe ac­
tion of the book and serious misrepresentations of its style and goals.! 
In spite of Tieck's position as a recog nizably "canoni zed" writer, this 

FQCu~ 071 Lil~ralll1· Vol. 2, No.2 (199,)