Federal Cross of Merit for Marianne Heuwagen

We congratulate Marianne Heuwagen, Deputy Chair of Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., on being awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, in recognition of her outstanding service to art and culture.

For more than 35 years, she has played a decisive role in preserving Villa Aurora as an artists' residence. Her connection to Villa Aurora began when she moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 1978, where she became friends with Marta Feuchtwanger. After Marta's death in 1987, she co-founded the Friends of Villa Aurora (Freundeskreis der Villa Aurora), which set out to preserve the Feuchtwanger Villa as a cultural monument of exile.

Dr. Markus Klimmer, Chairman of Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V. congratulated Marianne with the following words: "This honor for Marianne is more than well deserved and fills all of us at Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House with great pride. It is precisely this kind of civic engagement that is essential for a rich cultural landscape and a vibrant democracy. Dear Marianne, on behalf of the entire association, we thank you warmly for your work for Villa Aurora and — since 2016 — for the Thomas Mann House as well."