The scandalous lives of Weimar’s famous artist children
- Marleen Tigersee
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
A balmy spring night in 1924. A young man sits at a massive desk, a melancholic look on his face, surrounded by piles of paper. Wafts of tobacco smoke and perfume hang in the air; an overflowing ashtray and a half-empty inkwell stand to his right and left. The young man, just 17 years old, has reddened eyes – it is hard to say whether from lack of sleep or the stale air in the room. Gloomily, he leafs through his correspondence, pausing at a postcard. A decision takes shape within him. He takes a deep breath, pulls a fresh sheet of paper from the drawer and begins to write. He ends with the sentence: I’d also think it lovely if we got engaged. Seriously. What do you think? The letter is signed by none other than Klaus Mann, son of the famous writer Thomas Mann. And who does he want to marry? Pamela Wedekind, daughter of the playwright Frank Wedekind. The juicy bit: Klaus’s sister Erika is in love with Pamela, and Klaus isn’t actually interested in women at all...
Between luxury and the abyss: The Mann children
Erika and Klaus Mann are born in 1905 and 1906. Together with their four younger siblings, they spend their childhood in affluent circumstances. Their father is a highly successful author and their mother, Katia, comes from one of Munich’s wealthiest families, which allow the Manns to live in a villa with servants in the upmarket district of Bogenhausen. There, the two eldest Mann children befriend the young artists from the neighbourhood. Together they roam the neighbourhood, playing pranks, but also staging theatre performances to which they invite their parents and neighbours. Whilst Erika loves being the centre of attention, entertaining everyone with dramatic or comedic performances and dreaming of becoming an actress one day, her brother Klaus is more of a dreamer and introvert. He wants to become a writer like his father, yet he realises from an early age what a heavy legacy he is inheriting.
From an early age, his relationship with his father has been ambivalent. The patriarch admires his adolescent son’s good looks and his open attitude towards his homosexuality, for Mann Senior is also attracted to his own sex, though he is unable to act on these inclinations due to social constraints. He is also impressed by Klaus’s early literary ambitions, yet in the same breath he mocks them in front of friends and acquaintances; whether this stems from genuine criticism or envy remains unclear.
The youth of the two eldest siblings is a turbulent time. Their very comfortable financial circumstances allow Klaus and Erika to receive an excellent education, yet the liberal atmosphere prevailing in the Mann household, combined with the siblings’ desire for early fame and recognition, makes it difficult for them to settle into any routine. Both change schools several times, repeatedly disappearing into the nightlife together instead of studying, and experimenting with drugs. In 1924, Erika manages to scrape through her A-levels (in German: Abitur), whilst Klaus cuts short his academic career to move to Berlin. Initially employed as a theatre critic at the 12 Uhr Blatt, by that year he already has plans to stage his own play, which will soon cause quite a stir.
A fateful encounter
At a tea party hosted by their aunt Mimi, the Mann siblings meet Pamela Wedekind, the daughter of the playwright Frank Wedekind. Both are equally captivated by the young woman’s enigmatic aura; according to Klaus, she has the head of a Renaissance youth. Like Erika, she is a talented actress; she impresses everyone by playing her late father’s ballads on the lute and skilfully imitating his characteristic voice and manner of speaking. The three immediately become friends and will henceforth spend their nights together on the Berlin scene.
For Erika, it will become more than friendship. She writes letters to Pamela, in which she calls her Beloved Queen, Dear Goddess or Prince Wunderhold. Yet this infatuation will remain one-sided, as Erika realises early on. In a letter, she writes to the lady of her heart: But unfortunately, I cannot imagine that you like me as much as I like you – oh dear. His sisters crush does not pass Klaus by without arousing feelings of jealousy; he had previously shared a symbiotic relationship with Erika. He now tries, for his part, to win Pamela over, a game he takes as far as a marriage proposal – which Pamela accepts.
Anja and Esther
The dream of early success, and perhaps also the desire to outshine his father, gnaws at Klaus Mann. A scandalous play is set to bring the young writer fame and recognition. In a feverish creative frenzy, Klaus writes the drama Anja and Esther in 1925 in a very short amount of time; a play about young people in a boarding school, which he himself describes as a convalescent home for wayward children, a mixture of ballet school and sanatorium, with a touch of prison, brothel and convent. Even if he is certainly exaggerating with the description of a brothel (the model for the school is the Odenwald School, which Klaus himself attended), the play is nonetheless scandalous, as it deals with homosexual love between the protagonists Anja and Esther. To cause even more of a stir, Klaus wants to direct his own play and play the leading roles together with his sister and Pamela.
Poets’ children play themselves
When Klaus first sees the 25-year-old Gustaf Gründgens on stage at a premiere of Leonce and Lena in Hamburg, he is thrilled and determined to cast him in the fourth leading role in his play. The self-assured and extremely talented Gründgens, who is also enamoured with his own sex, enjoys playing the role of the eccentric artist in private; he often wears a long leather coat, sandals and a monocle. Klaus finds him beautiful and calls him Hermes (after the messenger of the gods). With Gründgens’ help, they manage to secure a run at the Kammerspiele in Hamburg, where they will perform and direct the play themselves. Another friend of the Mann siblings is brought on board to design the costumes and set: Mopsa Sternheim, daughter of the playwright Carl Sternheim, another child of a famous writer.
When Anja and Esther finally celebrates its peremiere, opinions are divided. Many critics are scornful, doubting that the poet’s children (German: Dichterkinder) possess any real talent and accusing them of merely playing themselves in the most attention-grabbing way possible. The play is described as confusing and long-winded, with the characters poorly defined. Yet there are also positive voices attesting to the young people’s talent and precociousness. In any case, success is on their side thanks to the scandal; the newspapers cannot stop reporting on it, and for a while the four tour numerous cities, facing audiences that are sometimes more, sometimes less sympathetic. Gründgens, however, soon pulls out, fearing for his existing reputation. Yet this departure will not lead to a long separation for the group centred on the poet children, for the next scandal is already waiting.
A wedding and an unwanted engagement
After the final performance, Klaus sets off on a trip to Nice in the spring of 1926 to recover from the hustle and bustle, but also to produce further literary works. He feels very much at home in the southern French city, repeatedly describing his various erotic adventures with sailors and other young men he encounters. Then the terrible news reaches him that Erika has become engaged to Gustaf Gründgens – his favourite sister to the admired Hermes! Immediately afterwards, he urges Pamela in a letter to finally get married themselves. So the game of jealousy moves into the next round. But Erika is serious about the wedding. As early as July of the same year, she and Gustaf tie the knot. Pamela stays away from the celebration; whether this is also out of jealousy or for some other reason, we never know.
Whilst Gründgens is setting up a home for him and his bride in Hamburg that autumn, Erika prefers to spend time with Klaus, Pamela and their mutual friend Mopsa Sternheim. The latter is tormented by her unrequited love for the poet Gottfried Benn, who is almost 20 years her senior and with whom she had a brief affair. To complicate matters further, Carl Sternheim begins to take an interest in Pamela, even though he is still married to Mopsa’s mother.
The following year, Klaus attempts to salvage the friendship between the poets’ children—which has suffered a blow due to Erika and Gustaf’s marriage—with another play. In Revue zu Vieren (Engl: A Revue for Four), the same cast as in Anja and Esther is to be used, and Mopsa is again hired for costumes and set design. But this time, the project turns into a fiasco. The play is a failure with both audiences and critics alike. The response is so devastating that Klaus and Erika take to their heels that same year and embark on an extended world tour together. By this point, her marriage to Gustaf is already over. Yet another scandal awaits the siblings. In December 1927, whilst in Hollywood, they receive the news that Pamela has become engaged to Carl Sternheim, which will be the final blow to the friendship between the poets’ children.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I hope you enjoyed this journey into the eccentric and scandalous world of the Mann children! If you’re interested in even more scandals, I highly recommend the book Dichterkinder, Liebe, Verrat und Drama – der Kreis um Klaus und Erika Mann by Armin Strohmeyr*, which I used for this article; it’s extremely entertaining and there are bound to be a few moments that will leave you speechless!
Yours sincerely,
Marleen Tigersee
*Unfortunately, I couldn't find out if the book has been translated into English yet but I'm certain that there are other books in English about this topic that are as entertaining as this one. Researching the topic further will definitely be worth you while!
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