Anna Seghers and The Power of Words
8/21/2025, 2 PM

“Through books that will come into being here, I want to help prevent the mistakes of the past from ever being repeated”, Anna Seghers said after she arrived in Berlin in 1947. She had returned as a world-famous author from exile in Mexico to Germany and placed her literary work at the service of the new society. As president of the Writers’ Association of the GDR, she also took on political responsibility. For this reason, Seghers’ work was repeatedly rejected in West Germany, while she was a role model for many authors in the young GDR, including Christa Wolf and Heiner Müller, and her multi-layered work offered a source of literary inspiration.

The Anna Seghers Museum in Berlin Adlershof preserves this writer’s home and study as it was during her lifetime, and presents a permanent showcase exhibition on her life and work. The Museums original furnishings include Anna Seghers’ extensive private library and many personal mementoes.

In addition to the regular guided tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Anna Seghers Museum offers themed tours.