Il Centro Thomas Mann e la politica culturale della RDT in Italia (1957-73)

The article analyses the activities of the Thomas Mann Centre from 1957, the year it was opened, up to 1973, when Italy officially recognised the GDR. The Centre, which was created on the initiative of the PCI and supported by the GDR, welcomed a wide range of intellectuals. It tried to spread knowledge about the GDR by concen¬trating on a few key figures such as Brecht and Käthe Kollwitz, and by focussing on the theme of antifascism, which was used as a propaganda tool against the FRG. The history of the Thomas Mann Centre allows us to deepen our understanding of the cultural politics of the GDR in Italy, and its interactions with the soft power approach of the FRG. [Publisher's text].