Based on the novel by Thomas Mann
The Buddenbrooks put the prestige and success of the family business first. Personal ideas of happiness and individual life plans have to be subordinated to the well-being of the company. Performance, loyalty to tradition and economic thinking dominate all areas of the family's life. After the death of the old consul, the eldest son Thomas takes over the business and the responsibility for continuing the family tradition. However, even though he succeeds in raising the family's reputation to a high point, he increasingly breaks down due to his high self-esteem and the company's looming economic decline. His sister Tony also succumbs to the pressure of family expectations - and fails. His hypochondriac brother Christian, on the other hand, tries to escape the family code with his penchant for eccentricity. Hanno, the longed-for progenitor, then draws the line.
In his social novel, published in 1901 and later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, Thomas Mann uses the example of a 19th century business family that fails to recognize the demands of a new age by clinging to old values and privileges to tell of the downfall of an entire epoch - and thus opens up a view of our current challenges in a world of multiple crises. On the occasion of Thomas Mann's anniversary year, "Buddenbrooks" will be shown for the first time in the theater of the two Hanseatic cities in Western Pomerania.
