Ulrich von Bülow: »Ein Besuch im Bergwerk. Franz Kafka im Deutschen Literaturarchiv Marbach«

June 15, 2026 / 7.30 pm / Hall

Since its foundation in 1955, the German Literature Archive Marbach has continuously acquired documents by and about Franz Kafka. The collections include the "Process" manuscript as well as Kafka's letters to Milena Jesenská, Grete Bloch and his sister Ottla. A few years ago, Kafka's school-leaving certificate and a letter from a reader who was perplexed by reading "The Metamorphosis" were discovered in Paris. And it was only last year that the famous "Letter to the Father", which never reached its addressee, was acquired.

But Kafka also appears in many of the bequests and bequests that the Marbach Literary Archive holds. Texts, letters and diaries by Max Brod, Kurt Tucholsky, Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt, Martin Walser, Peter Handke and Barbara Köhler show how he became a classic in West Germany, while in the East, following Georg Lukács' condemnation, people debated whether his works should be published at all.

Ulrich von Bülow, head of the Marbach manuscript department, will present the Kafka collection.

Admission: 10,- / 7,- EUR ǀ Event organized by Literaturhaus Leipzig e.V. ǀ Supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Leipzig

Reduced admission is available for disabled persons and their companions (only if listed on the disabled pass), unemployed persons, schoolchildren and students (up to 35) as well as holders of the Leipzig Pass or an honorary pass, in each case only on presentation of the pass).