„SO, IT’S A GIRL: I MUST CONFESS I FELT DISAPPOINTED […] WHY? IT’S HARD TO SAY. TO HAVE A SON SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING MORE POETIC, I ACKNOWLEDGE IT AS A CONTINUATION AND REBIRTH OF MYSELF […]”. REMARKS ON SOME OUTSTANDING MALE REPRESENTATIVES - AND NOT ONLY

The aim of the article is the analysis of the relationships among the members of the Mann family and their reciprocal influence. To have a father like Thomas Mann was a ‘problematic happiness’. The writer did not always have the best opinion of his children even if they were a ‘continuum of his genius’. Beginning with the elders – Erika and Klaus through Golo and Monika to the youngest – Michael and Elizabeth all were his darlings but received little attention. The parental house in the Poschingerstrasse was the centre for all the family members until they emigrated from Germany in the year 1933.