🗓️ Wednesday, April 8th
⏰ 3:00 pm
📍 Hofbräuhaus (Platzl 9, 80331 München)
💸 FREE

Dear internationals,

In 1926 Thomas Mann, Germany's most famous author of the 20th century, had recognized how much his city had transformed into a stronghold of the right compared to the prewar period. In a speech he delivered in November 1926 at an event organized by the liberal democratic party, he said:

“We were ashamed of the obstinate pessimism that emanated from Munich and was set against the political insight of Berlin, against the political yearning of an entire world; we watched with sorrow as its healthy and cheerful spirit was poisoned by anti-semitic nationalism and God knows what other dark follies. We had to witness how Munich was denounced in Germany and beyond as a stronghold of reaction, as the seat of all obstinacy and defiance against the will of the times; we had to hear it called a stupid, indeed a truly stupid city.”

Only seven years later Thomas Mann had to flee the country as the Nazis took over power and abolished democracy and the rule of law. Munich, before 1914 liberal heart of the German Empire and home to artists, philosophers and scientists from all over Europe, was unrecognizable and now called „City of the Movement“, as it was the place where the Nazi-Party had been founded in 1919 and where Adolf Hitler started his political career. It took 12 years of murder and madness till the ruins of the once „shining city“ were liberated by the US-Army.

Question like:
-    How did Munich become the breeding ground of far right after WWI?
-    Why did Hitler‘s attempted coup in 1923 fail?
-    What role did Munich’s high society play in the rise of National Socialism?
-    How was life in Munich between 1933 and 1945 and what role did the city play for the Nazi propaganda?
will be answered at our NS-City-Tour, which will take place on Wednesday (8th April 2026) from 3-5pm.

We’ll meet in front of Hofbräuhaus and the tour will end at Königsplatz. The tour will take place in any weather and a registration is not necessary.

With lots of love,
your MESA team!
#MESAlovesyou 🥨💚🩵