Todtnauberg

Shortly after giving an interview to Der Spiegel^[2] and following Paul Celan's lecture at Freiburg, Martin Heidegger hosted Celan at his chalet at Todtnauberg in 1967. The two walked in the woods. Celan impressed Heidegger with his knowledge of botany (also evident in his poetry), and Heidegger is thought to have spoken about elements of his press interview. Celan signed Heidegger's guest book.

Celan later wrote a poem entitled "Todtnauberg" which concerned the meeting.

The chalet features in the film The Ister.^[3]

The 1992 play Totenauberg by Nobel-prize winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek explores themes related to Heidegger's philosophy as well as his cultural influence. The title is a pun on the place-name "Todtnauberg", with the prefix "Toten-" alluding to the relationship between Heidegger's work and politics, and the deaths of millions ("die Toten") under Hitler's Fascist regime.^[4] Additionally, the connection between mountains and the dead is a common theme throughout Jelinek's literary work (see Die Kinder der Toten.)

In 2006, BBC Radio 4 produced a play with the title Todtnauberg, telling the story of the meeting between Celan and Heidegger, but also the story of Hannah Arendt's affair with Heidegger. John Banville wrote the play and Joss Ackland starred as Heidegger.

• Media related to Todtnauberg at Wikimedia Commons