Oskar Maria Graf
Poet and anti-fascist from Lake Starnberg

17 January until 8 September 2024

Oskar Maria Graf is probably the best-known poet in the region around Lake Starnberg. His birthplace, Berg, directly on the lake, and his family were an important starting point for his work. Despite his attachment to his origins, Graf was more than a writer of his homeland. He felt connected to a network of independent artists and socialist activists. Throughout his life, he was an unbending anti-fascist. He paid for his early and vehement dissociation from National Socialism with the loss of his homeland. He went into exile and only returned to Germany as a visitor a quarter of a century later. He remained in New York until the end of his life and saw himself as a Bavarian in the world.

Curated by Benjamin Tillig, Angela Müller and Daniel Kofler.
Research assistance Michaela Reissfelder-Zessin and Luisa Engler.

Audio pieces by Michael Gottfried, Beate Himmelstoss, Stefan Wilkenning, Juliane Köhler, Sibylle Canonica, Johannes Nussbaum, Philipp Moog and Peter Weiß.

Thanks to
Carolina Glas, Klaus Koch, Martin Hoffmann-Remy, Monica Blauner, Oskar-Maria-Graf-Grundschule Aufkirchen, Gemeindearchiv Berg, Staatsbibliothek Augsburg, Monacensia im Hildebrandt Haus, Bayerisches Staatsarchiv, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, ANNO/Österreichisches Nationalbibliothek, Oskar Maria Graf Gesellschaft

Dr Ulrich Dittmann, Dr des. Laura Mokrohs and Prof. Dr Waldemar Fromm, Katja Sebald, Elke Link, Jörn Kachelriess, Andreas Ammer

Supported by the Freundeskreis Museum Starnberger See.