Florian Illies / Anton Gerzenberg

A family spends the hot summer of 1933 on the French Mediterranean coast, in Sanary-sur-mer: Thomas Mann, whose 150th birthday it is this year, has fled there with his wife and two of his children. After the political situation in Europe came to a head, he was stranded there after an adventurous escape. The new book by Florian Illies is about the loss of the Mann family's home and possessions, the fear of looting by the Nazis, about melancholy, defiance and passion, but also about the ordeal between Klaus and Erika and their father. The author, who has already transformed past eras into the living present with his great successes "1913. The Summer of the Century" and »Magic of Silence« about Caspar David Friedrich, will read from his new book »When the Sun Goes Down«. Anton Gerzenberg will play music on the piano that was of great importance to Thomas Mann, including Wagner arrangements by Franz Liszt.