Klaus Maria Brandauer liest Thomas Mann

In the organizer's words:

At a time when democratic principles are once again coming under intense international pressure, Thomas Mann's political writings, which have been republished under the title ZUR VERTEIDIGUNG DER DEMOKRATIE (S. Fischer Verlag 2025), can serve as a wake-up call.

Klaus Maria Brandauer lends his voice to the eloquent essays and speeches and thus helps them to have a new, powerful impact in the year of Thomas Mann's 150th birthday.

Klaus Maria Brandauer has been one of the most sought-after actors on German-speaking stages since the early seventies. His most important roles include Shakespeare's Romeo, Schiller's Fiesco, Büchner's Leonce and the Prince in Lessing's Emilia Galotti, which he played in Fritz Kortner's legendary production. Since 1972 he has been a member of the Vienna Burgtheater - of which he is now an honorary member - and where he has appeared as Don Carlos, as Ferdinand, as Tartuffe, over a hundred times as Hamlet and as Lessing's Nathan the Wise.

In 2007, Klaus Maria Brandauer played Wallenstein in Peter Stein's ten-hour production at the Berliner Ensemble. In the summer of 2010, he returned to the Salzburg Festival with Sophocles' "Oedipus at Colonus", where he had played Jedermann from 1983 to 1989. Together with Peter Stein, he also played the village magistrate Adam in Heinrich von Kleist's "The Broken Jug", Krapp in "The Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett and Shakespeare's "King Lear".

In addition to his acting work, Klaus Maria Brandauer regularly directs plays. In recent years, he has directed Esther Vilar's "Speer" in Berlin and London, "Hamlet" at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the Cologne Opera and Bertolt Brecht's "Die Dreigroschenoper" at the Admiralspalast in Berlin.

Klaus Maria Brandauer is one of the few German-speaking actors to have achieved worldwide recognition. He made his film debut in 1970 in the Hollywood production "The Salzburg Connection". Over the years, this was followed by the James Bond film "Never Say Never Again", "Out Of Africa", "White Fang", "Streets Of Gold", "Rembrandt", "Introducing Dorothy" and "Tetro", directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Together with his friend István Szabó, he created the film trilogy "Oberst Redl"-"Mephisto"-"Hanussen". As a director, he filmed "Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland" and "Mario und der Zauberer" by Thomas Mann.

Klaus Maria Brandauer's work has been honored and awarded many times. These include honorary citizenship of his home town of Altaussee and an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University. He has received the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the Golden Globe, the Federal Film Prize, the Nestroy Theater Prize for his life's work, the Stanislawski Prize, the Peace Prize of German Film - Die Brücke, the Ring of Honor of the Province of Styria and the Ring of Honor of the Burgtheater, among others.