Conference Day I: Marta Triumphant
Oct. 25th, 2013 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe Lion Feuchtwanger conference which I'm attending right now is proceeding smoothly, with all of the lectures so far very interesting and well attended. Last evening's lecture about Marta Feuchtwanger, Lion's widow and very much a queen of her own domain woman both when married to him and in the decades after his death (she died with 95, nearly a century old, in the 1980s, whereas he died in 1958), drew so many people - which the organizers hadn't been prepared for - that a bunch had to be turned away because there wasn't enough room. This never happened at a Feuchtwanger conference before, and everyone was astonished and pleased, especially since the lecture in question was about Marta, whom several of the attendants had actually known in person.
The lecture in question consisted of three parts; one local Berlin senator (female) told us about her research findings about the Feuchtwangers' Berlin years (they moved from Munich to Berlin in 1925 and were luckily abroad in January 1933 when their house was immediately invaded and seized by the Nazis upon Hitler's getting power (Lion had written the first novel dealing with the Nazis, and specifically Hitler, satirically, Erfolg, which was published in 1930, three full years before H. became Chancellor). The first house the Feuchtwangers lived in in Berlin (in a four room apartment under the roof) doesn't exist anymore (it was destroyed in the WWII bombings), but the files on it in the archive does - building plans, modification permits, complaints by inhabitants etc., which tell an entertaining story. (Their second Berlin address, due to Lion being a very popular bestselling author who had by then the necessary cash, was a villa in Grunewald, but they only lived there for a year, from 1932-1933.) Marta organizing all the practicalities of moving and living was of course one important aspect of their lives (the Berlin thing was harmless if you compare it to, say, Marta getting Lion out of the Les Milles camp and both of them out of Europe later, but either way, she was always action!woman in that marriage; the senator said that as a young feminist she'd dismissed Marta as "in the shadow of her husband" and now felt stupid and arrogant about that, since it not only devalued a woman's work but also took no account of Marta's self definition, and Marta didn't feel overshadowed at all.
The second part of the Marta evening consisted of an actor reading some of her letters over the decades, from recipients ranging from Thomas Mann's widow Katja to Willy Brand, both before and after he became Chancellor of Germany, to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley (ditto before and after he was in office) to answering journalist questions. The topics go from abortion (Marta in the 1950s makes an impassioned plea for a woman's right to choose for her own body without dismissing the emotional impact) to who the German consuls in Los Angeles should be to Los Angeles local politics. She was always vividly interested in both American and German politics, as opposed to Lion,who died still a non-citizen because of the US communist scare, could travel back to Europe and the letters dealing with that show her reaction, fears, hopes and basic optimism. Willy Brandt she identified with, since he'd been a fellow emigré during the Third Reich, so when he became Chancellor she was thrilled and it was proof to her that Germany really had changed. (She also intensely campaigned on his behalf so he'd get the Novel Peace Prize, which he did.)
The third part of the evening was a conversation between a young researcher and Marianne Heuwagen, who'd known and been friends with Marta for 11 years up to her death, and Ms. Heuwagen contributed a great Marta anecdote I hadn't known before. In 1983, there was the Tricentennial, 300 years of German settlers in Northern America, and on the occasion, there was among other things an invitation of a major German politician to Los Angeles for the celebrations. Now these were the early 80s, the world had gone conservative, Reagan was in power, in Germany, Kohl had become Chancellor. Marta, of course, was as passionate a leftist as ever, and when she heard the politician in question would be Franz Josef Strauß, she went into action. (Franz Josef Strauß: governor of Bavaria, v. v. popular there, v.v. loathed outside of Bavaria. Tried in vain to become Chancellor. Most importantly re: Marta, had been Secretary of Defense under Adenauer during the notorious Spiegel Affair, which is seen as the first test of post war German democracy - the Spiegel published an article about the Bundeswehr as part of the NATO defense plans that was highly critical, Strauß had the chief editor, who was vacationing in Spain, arrested for treason, the whole thing exploded in his face and when the dust settled, Strauß had to leave the administration and was finished as anything but a regional politician whereas the Spiegel, decades later, still lives of the heroes-for-democracy reputation that affair earned them.) If Strauß had come to Los Angeles as part of the celebrations, Marta would have had to play hostess at the Villa Aurora, and since he was political anathema to her, she really didn't want to. She called Ms. Heuwagen who was a journalist and correspondant and asked her to let it slip to the German ambassador that if Strauß came to Los Angeles, there would be riots and demonstrations. Now this obviously was a lie - I doubt any American students in Los Angeles were aware he existed, let alone would have demonstrated against him - but the ambassador, having newly come in with Kohl getting into power, didn't know that and bought it. So instead, the German politician invited for the Tricentennial to Los Angeles was: Willy Brandt.
There were also some short video clips showing Marta interviewed, Bavarian accent still in place. The only thing she really disliked about getting old was that she couldn't ski anymore when in her 70s; her insurance company refused to continue insuring her if she continued to ski, and Marta had been a passionate skier since she was a girl, so that was a blow. But she walked down from Pacific Palisades to the coast to swim in the ocean every morning until a few weeks before her death, in the 90s, and once scared the hell out of a life guard who was worried about the old lady. In conclusion: we finished the first conference day on a "yay Marta!" note, and drank to her memory.
The lecture in question consisted of three parts; one local Berlin senator (female) told us about her research findings about the Feuchtwangers' Berlin years (they moved from Munich to Berlin in 1925 and were luckily abroad in January 1933 when their house was immediately invaded and seized by the Nazis upon Hitler's getting power (Lion had written the first novel dealing with the Nazis, and specifically Hitler, satirically, Erfolg, which was published in 1930, three full years before H. became Chancellor). The first house the Feuchtwangers lived in in Berlin (in a four room apartment under the roof) doesn't exist anymore (it was destroyed in the WWII bombings), but the files on it in the archive does - building plans, modification permits, complaints by inhabitants etc., which tell an entertaining story. (Their second Berlin address, due to Lion being a very popular bestselling author who had by then the necessary cash, was a villa in Grunewald, but they only lived there for a year, from 1932-1933.) Marta organizing all the practicalities of moving and living was of course one important aspect of their lives (the Berlin thing was harmless if you compare it to, say, Marta getting Lion out of the Les Milles camp and both of them out of Europe later, but either way, she was always action!woman in that marriage; the senator said that as a young feminist she'd dismissed Marta as "in the shadow of her husband" and now felt stupid and arrogant about that, since it not only devalued a woman's work but also took no account of Marta's self definition, and Marta didn't feel overshadowed at all.
The second part of the Marta evening consisted of an actor reading some of her letters over the decades, from recipients ranging from Thomas Mann's widow Katja to Willy Brand, both before and after he became Chancellor of Germany, to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley (ditto before and after he was in office) to answering journalist questions. The topics go from abortion (Marta in the 1950s makes an impassioned plea for a woman's right to choose for her own body without dismissing the emotional impact) to who the German consuls in Los Angeles should be to Los Angeles local politics. She was always vividly interested in both American and German politics, as opposed to Lion,who died still a non-citizen because of the US communist scare, could travel back to Europe and the letters dealing with that show her reaction, fears, hopes and basic optimism. Willy Brandt she identified with, since he'd been a fellow emigré during the Third Reich, so when he became Chancellor she was thrilled and it was proof to her that Germany really had changed. (She also intensely campaigned on his behalf so he'd get the Novel Peace Prize, which he did.)
The third part of the evening was a conversation between a young researcher and Marianne Heuwagen, who'd known and been friends with Marta for 11 years up to her death, and Ms. Heuwagen contributed a great Marta anecdote I hadn't known before. In 1983, there was the Tricentennial, 300 years of German settlers in Northern America, and on the occasion, there was among other things an invitation of a major German politician to Los Angeles for the celebrations. Now these were the early 80s, the world had gone conservative, Reagan was in power, in Germany, Kohl had become Chancellor. Marta, of course, was as passionate a leftist as ever, and when she heard the politician in question would be Franz Josef Strauß, she went into action. (Franz Josef Strauß: governor of Bavaria, v. v. popular there, v.v. loathed outside of Bavaria. Tried in vain to become Chancellor. Most importantly re: Marta, had been Secretary of Defense under Adenauer during the notorious Spiegel Affair, which is seen as the first test of post war German democracy - the Spiegel published an article about the Bundeswehr as part of the NATO defense plans that was highly critical, Strauß had the chief editor, who was vacationing in Spain, arrested for treason, the whole thing exploded in his face and when the dust settled, Strauß had to leave the administration and was finished as anything but a regional politician whereas the Spiegel, decades later, still lives of the heroes-for-democracy reputation that affair earned them.) If Strauß had come to Los Angeles as part of the celebrations, Marta would have had to play hostess at the Villa Aurora, and since he was political anathema to her, she really didn't want to. She called Ms. Heuwagen who was a journalist and correspondant and asked her to let it slip to the German ambassador that if Strauß came to Los Angeles, there would be riots and demonstrations. Now this obviously was a lie - I doubt any American students in Los Angeles were aware he existed, let alone would have demonstrated against him - but the ambassador, having newly come in with Kohl getting into power, didn't know that and bought it. So instead, the German politician invited for the Tricentennial to Los Angeles was: Willy Brandt.
There were also some short video clips showing Marta interviewed, Bavarian accent still in place. The only thing she really disliked about getting old was that she couldn't ski anymore when in her 70s; her insurance company refused to continue insuring her if she continued to ski, and Marta had been a passionate skier since she was a girl, so that was a blow. But she walked down from Pacific Palisades to the coast to swim in the ocean every morning until a few weeks before her death, in the 90s, and once scared the hell out of a life guard who was worried about the old lady. In conclusion: we finished the first conference day on a "yay Marta!" note, and drank to her memory.
