Weimar under the Palms: An Evening w/ Thomas Blubacher & Sabine von Mering

Deutsches Haus at NYU and Brandeis University present a reading by Thomas Blubacher from "Weimar Under the Palms: Pacific Palisades, German Exiles, and the Invention of Hollywood" (Brandeis University Press, 2025, translated by Elizabeth Lauffer) followed by a conversation between the author and Sabine von Mering (Brandeis University).

Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and there will be a book signing following the program.

About "Weimar under the Palms:"

In the early twentieth century, Pacific Palisades was home to America’s most modern film studio of the time as well as the proposed site of the world’s largest Christian center. But by the end of the 1920s, the Los Angeles neighborhood had become the refuge of the rich and beautiful as German and Austrian filmmakers, among them Salka and Berthold Viertel, settled there. They were soon followed by cultural and intellectual giants of the Weimar Republic who were fleeing Europe, such as Max Reinhardt, Hanns Eisler, or Max Horkheimer. These great minds turned Pacific Palisades into a “Weimar under the palm trees.” Though many were successful in exile—including Vicki Baum, Thomas Mann, and Lion Feuchtwanger—others felt as if they were in a “sun prison” far from home.

Recounting a story of glamor and great minds, Thomas Blubacher tells of the history of German-speaking exiles that is still alive there today, going on a foray through the film industry, taking us on a journey to this special place that was so recently devastated by fire. Many of the homes in this book have now gone, but Marta Feuchtwanger’s Villa Aurora and the Thomas Mann house still stand as a testament to luck, resilience, and history.

About the participants:

Thomas Blubacher has written over thirty books and has worked as a theater director in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A specialist on theater and film of the 1930s, his books include biographies of the siblings Eleonora and Francesco von Mendelssohn, Gustaf Gründgens, Oscar Wälterlin, Ruth Landshoff-Yorck, and Ruth Hellberg. He has also written essays and travel features, and has published a bestselling book on cruises and several historical crime novels.

Sabine von Mering, holds a Ph.D. in German Studies from the University of California, Davis and is Professor of German and Chair of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, a core member of the program faculty in the Environmental Studies Program, and Director of the Center for German and European Studies (CGES) at Brandeis University. Relevant latest publications include her co-edited Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism (2025), and her English translation of German climate activists Luisa Neubauer and Alexander Repenning’s Beginning to End the Climate Crisis. A History of Our Future (2023). With Kiley Kost, Dan Noland and Seth Peabody she also just finalized a co-edited special issue for German Politics and Society entitled Cultures of Climate Action in Germany for which she authored an article about the transatlantic connections of climate denial.

Attendance:

While NYU has ended COVID-19 related restrictions and policies, we continue to remind and recommend to members of the NYU community that they stay up-to-date on their boosters and stay home if they feel sick. Masks are always welcome.

Accessibility:

The first floor of Deutsches Haus at NYU, where our auditorium is located and where a majority of our events take place, can be made wheelchair accessible through the use of our ramp. If you would like for a Deutsches Haus staff member to set up this ramp for you, please call our Front Desk at +1 212-998-8660 upon your arrival. For any other accessibility-related questions or concerns, please email us at dhnyu.frontdesk@gmail.com or call us at +1 212-998-8660.

"'Weimar under Palms: An Evening with Thomas Blubacher and Sabine von Mering" is funded by the DAAD from funds of the German Federal Foreign Office (AA).