Weimar Under the Palms

The story of the German exiles--and cultural titans--who settled in Pacific Palisades and influenced American culture.

In the early twentieth century, Pacific Palisades was home to America's most modern film studio of the time as well as the proposed site of the world's largest Christian center. But by the end of the 1920s, the Los Angeles neighborhood had become the refuge of the rich and beautiful as German and Austrian filmmakers, among them Salka and Berthold Viertel, settled there. They were soon followed by cultural and intellectual giants of the Weimar Republic who were fleeing Europe, such as Max Reinhardt, Hanns Eisler, or Max Horkheimer. These great minds turned Pacific Palisades into a "Weimar under the palm trees." Though many were successful in exile--including Vicki Baum, Thomas Mann, and Lion Feuchtwanger--others felt as if they were in a "sun prison" far from home.

Recounting a story of glamor and great minds, Thomas Blubacher tells of the history of German-speaking exiles that is still alive there today, going on a foray through the film industry, taking us on a journey to this special place that was so recently devastated by fire. Many of the homes in this book have now gone, but Marta Feuchtwanger's Villa Aurora and the Thomas Mann house still stand as a testament to luck, resilience, and history.

Thomas Blubacher has written over thirty books and has worked as a theater director in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A specialist in theater and film of the 1930s, his books include biographies of the siblings Eleonora and Francesco von Mendelssohn, Gustaf Gründgens, Oscar Wälterlin, Ruth Landshoff-Yorck, and Ruth Hellberg. He has also written essays and travel features and has published a bestselling book on cruises and several historical crime novels. Elisabeth Lauffer is a German-English literary translator based in the United States. She has translated many books of fiction and nonfiction.