AngloGerman Manchester

A series of linked essays on particular Germans living in Manchester from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The themes of refuge (from the 1848 Revolutions in Europe, and later from Nazi Germany) and reparation run through the book. AngloGerman Manchester explores the lives of Germans in Manchester from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, combining cultural and historical study with autobiographical material. Through a series of studies of individual Germans – immigrants or visitors to Manchester – the book uniquely brings together figures not usually associated with one another, including Frederick Engels, Fanny Lewald, Rabbi Felix Carlebach and W. G. Sebald. Several are connected by a history of refuge or, in Sebald’s case, chosen exile. The 1848 revolutions in Europe form the backdrop to several of their stories, including that of German writer Fanny Lewald, who visited Manchester in 1850. A chapter on Jewish refugees from Nazism takes up the same theme. The final chapter represents a shift, geographical and political. Taking up the theme of reparation, the author visits Germans in their home country, people who have dedicated themselves in various ways to making amends for the crimes of a previous generation. Memorial stones for members of the author’s family provide a permanent link from Germany to Manchester. The essays in this book discuss the lives of Germans living in Manchester, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, combining historical study with personal and autobiographical material. Chapters are devoted to Frederick Engels, Fanny Lewald, Rabbi Felix Carlebach and W. G. Sebald, with additional discussion of Elizabeth Gaskell and the Manchester writer Geraldine Jewsbury. One chapter focuses on Jewish refugees from Nazism who set up new industries in Manchester, including the author’s father. The final chapter takes up the theme of reparation, which runs through the book, relating the work of non-Jewish Germans engaged in the project of ‘making amends’ in their own country for the crimes of an earlier generation.