April 1945. The Red Army is advancing inexorably. At the foot of the Giant Mountains, Otto Ther buries a box containing a diamond cross, jewellery and polished silver cutlery. It is meant to survive until the family can return to Hohenelbe, now known as Vrchlabí.
Image gallery
2026_fvv_Der Schatz
Decades later, his grandson, the historian Philipp Ther, travels time and again with his father to their lost homeland. The local museum hands over three boxes to them – for the historian, a treasure of a ganz anderer Art. The family documents inside reveal just how deeply his own family was entangled in National Socialism.
In "The Treasure - A Bohemian Family History", Philipp Ther weaves together family history and contemporary history into a personal narrative about origins, guilt and memory.
PROGRAMME
Welcome
Dr Roland Borchers, Director, Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation (Berlin)
Reading and conversation
Prof Dr Philipp Ther, Autor
Moderated by: em. Prof Dr Jürgen Kocka, Freie Universität (Berlin)
The auhor will be available for a book-signing session after the reading.
A small reception will follow the event.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Book table: Bookshop „Der Zauberberg“
Doors open: 6 p.m.
Language: German
FREE ADMISSION, REGISTRATION REQUIRED
The event will be recorded and published on our YouTube channel Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung.
Additional information
Dates
December 2026
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