The year 2025 marks the anniversaries of some great writers. There is Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) on the occasion of his 150th birthday and the 100th anniversary of his death the following year. Thomas Mann (1875 – 1955) should be honoured; his importance for German-language literature and his international reputation speak for themselves. Both will probably receive appropriate attention with exhibitions and new editions of their works.
For the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875), this does not seem so certain at the moment; with his fairy tales, he has written himself into the Olympus of children’s literature (and not only there). Will it be enough to honour him?
This question also arises for the famous versatile artist Lothar Meggendorfer (1847 – 1925), the 100th anniversary of whose death is being commemorated. His innovative oeuvre is held in the highest esteem, as evidenced by the biennial Meggendorfer Prize awarded by the Movable Book Society in the USA. No doubt. his international reputation is actually worthy of a German Post stamp. So far, however, nothing of this kind seems to be in the pipeline. We have enquired at several museums and libraries – unfortunately without any response. We are curious to see if anything will happen here.