Fever Dream and Altitude Rush – the most famous sanatorium stay in literary history takes centre stage: Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. For 100 years, readers have followed Hans Castorp on his journey to Davos, where he initially visits his cousin suffering from tuberculosis – only to stay for seven years himself.
Accompanying the exhibition Thomas Mann’s — The Magic Mountain. Fever Deam and Altitude Rush, this catalogue invites readers to rediscover the world-famous novel from fresh perspectives. Esteemed scholars from various disciplines explore the text in all its complexity. Topics range from historical and medical contexts to cultural themes such as the occult and the sepulchral.
The contributions demonstrate how timeless The Magic Mountain remains. The concerns of its characters and the questions that preoccupied its author continue to resonate today. The catalogue offers an engaging and thought-provoking reading experience.

The design strikes a balance between clarity and playfulness. While the text is presented with a clean, structured layout to maximise readability, the table of content and the introductory pages of each chapter introduce dynamic, contrasting layouts. Colourful divider pages separate the sections and establish a connection to the exhibition’s key visual and the exhibition spaces themselves.

Published and edited by: Dr. Caren Heuer & Barbara Eschenburg
Typeface: Rhetorik Serif by Sascha Bente / AllCaps Type & Default Sans by Scott Vander Zee
Pages: 176
Print: 4/4-4/4-colored
Size: 240 × 290 mm
Binding: Softcover thread stitching
Edition: 600
Publishing house: Königshausen & Neumann