News from the Tin Drum – A lost manuscript by Günter Grass
5/7/2026, 7 PM

To this day, Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) remains one of the most controversial masterpieces of narrative art. Its themes remain as relevant as ever. In the novel, Oskar Matzerath loudly denounces stupidity, opportunism, lies and Nazism. With his first novel, the then largely unknown author Günter Grass caused a sensation in 1959 and sparked a political scandal. Forty years later, he was honoured with the Nobel Prize and the work was hailed as the “rebirth of the German novel in the 20th century”.

More than half a century after its publication, previously unknown sections of the manuscript were discovered, which the Archives of the Akademie der Künste was able to acquire with the assistance of the Cultural Foundation of the German States. Literary scholars Gabriele Radecke, John Reddick and Dieter Stolz discuss the spectacular rediscovery and the novel’s equally intriguing and fascinating genesis. Ulrich Matthes reads from the epic novel. A display cabinet presents the manuscript.