Buddenbrooks Character Map and Family Tree
At the opening dinner in the house on Mengstraße, a man named Johann sits with his son Johann. Years later another Johann enters the family papers, though almost everyone calls him Hanno. Start with the family tree if the names are running together. Follow Tony’s circle for the marriages and the people they bring into the house, or go straight to Hanno’s circle for the boy’s life at home and at school.
Spoiler warning. This guide covers the whole novel, including the fates of the family and its firm.
The Buddenbrook family tree
Johann the elder’s household
Johann Buddenbrook the elder is the grandfather at the opening dinner. His two sons have different mothers. His first wife, Josephine, dies giving birth to Gotthold. Antoinette Duchamps, his second wife, is the mother of Jean and of the daughter who lives in Frankfurt with her banker husband.
Gotthold Buddenbrook marries a woman from the Stüwing family against his father’s wishes. He runs a linen business and disputes what he is owed after the family buys the Mengstraße house. After his father’s death he gives up his additional claims and resumes family visits. He and his wife have three daughters, Friederike, Henriette, and Pfiffi, who keep their own household on Breite Straße later in the book.
Jean and Elisabeth’s household
Johann Buddenbrook, called Jean, is the grandfather’s younger son and Gotthold’s half-brother. He takes over the grain firm from his father and keeps the family papers, where he records births and marriages. When a daughter calls him Papa or the family speaks of the Consul at the opening, they mean Jean.
Elisabeth Kröger, called Bethsy, is Jean’s wife and the mother of Thomas, Antonie, Christian, and Klara. Her father is Lebrecht Kröger, the elegant old man at the dinner. After Jean dies, visitors still address Elisabeth as the Consul’s wife or widow. Years later Gerda can also be called the Consul’s wife, before Thomas becomes senator.
The grandchildren and great-granddaughter
Thomas, called Tom, takes over the firm after Jean and marries Gerda Arnoldsen. Their son is Justus Johann Kaspar Buddenbrook, called Hanno. Antonie, called Tony, has Erika Grünlich with Bendix Grünlich. Erika and Hanno are first cousins. Erika and Hugo Weinschenk’s daughter Elisabeth is another generation down and shares her name with Erika’s grandmother Bethsy.
Tony, her marriages, and Erika
Morten Schwarzkopf is the medical student Tony falls in love with at Travemünde. She is staying with his parents, the pilot commander Diederich Schwarzkopf and his wife. Tony and Morten privately speak of marrying. Grünlich calls on Morten’s father and insists he has a prior claim to Tony. The commander calls his son to account, and Morten leaves for Göttingen. Tony later hears that he has a medical practice in Breslau.
Bendix Grünlich, the Hamburg merchant Jean favors, becomes Tony’s first husband. His banker and creditor Kesselmeyer had vouched for his credit before the marriage. When Grünlich faces bankruptcy, Kesselmeyer tells Jean how the creditors helped create that impression and what they hoped to gain from the marriage. Jean refuses to cover the debts and takes Tony and Erika home. The marriage ends in divorce.
Alois Permaneder meets Tony while she is staying in Munich with her school friend Eva Ewers, now Eva Niederpaur. Eva’s husband is a brewery director. After marrying Alois, Tony moves to Munich with Erika. Tony and Alois have a daughter who lives only a quarter of an hour. Later Tony finds him drunk, trying to kiss their cook Babette, called Babett, who tries to free herself. Tony leaves with Erika. Andreas Gieseke, Christian’s friend and a lawyer, handles the divorce, and Alois agrees to return Tony’s dowry.
Erika Grünlich spends much of her life with her mother. She marries Hugo Weinschenk, the director of the municipal fire insurance company, whose office is at the back of the Mengstraße house. Tony lives with the couple. After Hugo is convicted of fraud, Erika and their little Elisabeth remain with Tony. Once released, Hugo speaks of a possible job in London. His last letter comes from Hamburg. Tony starts preparing a case for divorce on grounds of desertion, and the novel leaves Erika and her daughter in her household.
Therese Weichbrodt, known as Sesemi, runs the girls’ boarding school Tony attends with Gerda Arnoldsen and Armgard von Schilling. Her older sister Nelly, also called Madame Kethelsen, lives at the school. Sesemi continues to visit the family long after her pupils grow up.
Thomas, Gerda, and Hanno
Thomas Buddenbrook has one youthful attachment that can be easy to miss. Anna, a florist’s assistant he visits before leaving for Amsterdam, seems to be the woman Mann later introduces as Frau Iwersen, who works at the flower shop opposite Thomas’s new house. Thomas goes on to marry Gerda Arnoldsen, whom he meets again in Amsterdam at a dinner given by his former employer, Van der Kellen. Gerda is an accomplished violinist and the daughter of a merchant who also plays. Thomas’s letter announcing the engagement speaks both of his admiration for Gerda and of the fortune she will bring.
Hanno Buddenbrook grows up with his father’s hopes for a successor and his mother’s music. Ida Jungmann, the caretaker who looked after Thomas and Tony when they were children, comes to look after him. Edmund Pfühl, the organist at St. Mary’s, plays with Gerda and teaches Hanno. Kai, Count Mölln, is the schoolfriend who tells Hanno stories and whose voice still reaches him during his final illness. The women at the last gathering recall that Kai got to his bedside and kissed his hands.
Lieutenant Renee Maria von Throta visits Gerda frequently to play music. Their closeness provokes gossip and troubles Thomas. Hanno tells his father that the two sometimes sit quietly between pieces. The novel leaves their relationship there.
Dr. Wulicke runs Hanno’s school in the chapter that follows Hanno through a day at school. Dr. Mantelsack is his Latin teacher and class master, and Modersohn, a trainee teacher, takes the English class. Stephan Kistenmaker, Thomas’s friend, becomes Hanno’s guardian. He and Pastor Andreas Pringsheim, who baptized Hanno, keep asking what career the boy intends to follow. Hanno dies of typhoid before the question can be settled.
Christian, Klara, and the cousins
Christian Buddenbrook can make a room laugh by imitating a schoolmaster. As an adult he prefers the theater and the company of men such as Peter Döhlmann to regular work at the firm. Thomas quarrels with him after Christian tells his club that merchants are all swindlers. Christian leaves for Hamburg, tries a business of his own, and later works briefly for Erika’s husband. After Thomas dies, he marries his longtime companion Aline Puvogel, who has three children. Christian says her youngest, Gisela, is his. Thomas questions that claim. Aline and a doctor arrange for Christian to be confined in an institution. The accusation that they colluded comes from Tony.
Klara Buddenbrook, the youngest of Jean and Elisabeth’s children, marries Sievert Tiburtius, a pastor from Riga who has been a guest at her mother’s religious gatherings. When Klara is dying, she asks that her share of the family fortune go to her husband during his lifetime. Elisabeth agrees and Christian also consents. Thomas learns of the agreement afterward and accuses Tiburtius of pursuing the money.
Justus Kröger, Elisabeth’s brother, is one of Hanno’s godfathers. The other is the elderly mayor, Dr. Kaspar Överdieck. Justus and his wife, a woman from the Överdieck family, have two sons. Jürgen works in the postal service. Jakob becomes estranged from his parents, though his mother secretly sends him money.
Klothilde Buddenbrook, called Thilda, is the daughter of Bernhard Buddenbrook (also spelled Bernhardt), a nephew of Johann the elder. She grows up in Jean and Elisabeth’s household and later lives at the Johanniskloster, a home endowed for unmarried women. Friederike, Henriette, and Pfiffi, the daughters of Jean’s half-brother Gotthold, are the cousins often referred to collectively as the Buddenbrook ladies of Breite Straße. All four women are present at the close.
The firm and its rivals
The grain firm of Johann Buddenbrook takes its name from the family. The elder Johann’s father, Johan Buddenbrook, founded it in 1768. The elder Johann passes it to Jean, his son and business partner. After Jean dies, Thomas takes charge and Friedrich Wilhelm Marcus, his father’s longtime authorized representative, becomes a partner under Jean’s will. Christian briefly holds signing authority. The Dutch consulship follows a separate route. Thomas asks his uncle Gotthold to take the office after Jean’s death and takes it himself after Gotthold dies.
Hinrich Hagenström is a partner in the growing firm of Strunck & Hagenström. His eldest son, Hermann, eventually runs against Thomas for the Senate. The third leading candidate, the wine merchant Eduard Kistenmaker, drops out of the count before Thomas defeats Hermann. The friend named Stephan Kistenmaker is the man who later administers Thomas’s estate. Hermann goes on to buy the Mengstraße house through the broker Siegismund Gosch, whose name also appears as Sigismund.
Julchen Hagenström and Tony have disliked each other since childhood. Julchen marries August Möllendorpf. James Möllendorpf is the senator whose death opens the seat Thomas wins. Moritz Hagenström, Hermann and Julchen’s brother, prosecutes Hugo Weinschenk. Dr. Breslauer defends Hugo, with Dr. Philander presiding. The prosecution concerns Hugo’s conduct as an insurance director. Tony experiences it as another blow from the rival family.
Armgard von Schilling, Tony’s old school friend, marries Ralf von Maiboom, whose estate is called Pöppenrade. Through Tony, Thomas agrees to buy Ralf’s crop while it is still in the fields and tells Marcus once it’s done. Marcus repudiates any part in the deal. On the firm’s centenary, 7 July 1868, news comes that hail has destroyed it. When Thomas dies, his will gives the firm a year to wind up. Stephan Kistenmaker and Marcus carry out the liquidation, and Hanno remains Thomas’s heir.
The houses and the people who move between them
Mengstraße. The old Ratenkamp house is where the novel opens. It houses the family and its offices, and later the widowed Elisabeth. Riekchen Severin serves her after Ida moves to Thomas’s household. Tony and Riekchen dispute what belongs to whom after Elisabeth’s death. Hermann buys the house and moves his family into the front portion.
Fischergrube. Thomas has this house built for his own household. It is the house associated with Gerda’s visits from Throta. After Thomas’s death, the estate sells it to an elderly bachelor. Gosch is one of the unsuccessful bidders.
Lindenplatz and the Burgtor. Tony lives at Lindenplatz with Erika and little Elisabeth. Gerda takes Hanno to a smaller villa outside the Burgtor after Thomas dies. Ida leaves the household, and Clementine is in the villa on the morning of the day at school Mann recounts.
Travemünde, Hamburg, Munich, Riga, and Amsterdam. Travemünde is where Tony spends time with Morten and where Hanno later takes seaside holidays. Hamburg is Grünlich’s city and the city where Christian marries Aline. Tony lives with Alois in Munich, Klara joins Sievert in Riga, and Amsterdam is Gerda’s home before her marriage and her destination at the end.
The Deep Reader review of Buddenbrooks follows what the Mengstraße house means to Tony across these changes.
People who cross households
Dr. Friedrich Grabow is the family physician from the opening dinner onward. He and the younger Dr. Langhals attend Elisabeth in her last illness. The young doctor belongs to the family of Mayor Langhals, Thomas’s senior colleague in city government. Sister Leandra nurses Elisabeth and is also present at Thomas’s deathbed. Herr Brecht, the dentist who treats Hanno, later tries to extract Thomas’s aching tooth. Thomas collapses in the street afterward and dies at home that evening.
Pastor Wunderlich is an old friend of the grandfather’s generation. Pastor Trieschke, known for weeping in the pulpit, is among the clergymen the widowed Elisabeth invites to her home. Pastor Pringsheim officiates at Hanno’s christening and Erika’s wedding. He also conducts Thomas’s funeral. Jean Jacques Hoffstede, the town poet, is a friend of the elder Johann and one of the first dinner guests. His first name is easy to confuse with the younger Johann’s nickname, Jean.
Name and nickname lookup
If you see | Who it is |
Johan, founder of the firm | The elder Johann’s father, named in the family papers and the centenary display. |
Johann senior, old Mr. Buddenbrook | The grandfather at the opening dinner, who marries Josephine and then Antoinette. |
Jean, Johann junior, the Consul at the opening | Johann the elder’s younger son, husband of Elisabeth Kröger. |
Nette, Madame Antoinette | Antoinette Duchamps, the elder Johann’s second wife and Jean’s mother. |
Bethsy, Betsy, the old Consul’s widow | Elisabeth Kröger, Jean’s wife and the mother of Thomas, Tony, Christian, and Klara. Lowe-Porter uses Betsy. |
Tom, Senator Buddenbrook | Thomas, Jean and Bethsy’s elder son. |
Tony, Tonerl, Madame Grünlich, Frau Permaneder-Buddenbrook | Antonie Buddenbrook. Alois calls her Tonerl, and she uses the surnames Grünlich and Permaneder after her marriages. |
Erika Grünlich, Erika Weinschenk, Erica | Tony and Grünlich’s daughter, who marries Hugo. |
Little Elisabeth, Erika’s Elisabeth | Erika and Hugo’s daughter. Tony is her grandmother. |
Hanno, little Johann, Justus Johann Kaspar | Thomas and Gerda’s son. His first and third baptismal names come from his godfathers. |
Thilda, Klothilde, Tilda, Clothilde | The cousin raised alongside Tony. Lowe-Porter uses Tilda and Clothilde. |
Mamsell Jungmann | Ida, who cares for the older children and later for Hanno. |
Sesemi, Fräulein Weichbrodt | Therese Weichbrodt, Tony’s former schoolmistress. |
Riekchen, Mamsell Severin | Elisabeth’s later attendant in the Mengstraße house. |
Frau Tiburtius, Klara, Clara | Jean and Elisabeth’s younger daughter, who marries the pastor from Riga. |
Frau Möllendorpf, born Hagenström | Julchen, Tony’s childhood rival and Hermann and Moritz’s sister. |
Hermann, Herman Hagenström | Thomas’s business and political rival. Lowe-Porter spells his first name Herman. |
Frau von Maiboom | Armgard von Schilling, Tony and Gerda’s school friend. |
Kistenmaker | Eduard is the Senate candidate. His brother Stephan is Thomas’s friend and executor. |
Count Mölln | Kai, Hanno’s friend, or Eberhard, Kai’s father. |
The final gathering
At his mother’s desk, Hanno draws a double line beneath his own name in the family register. He tells Thomas that he thought there would be nothing more to enter. After Hanno’s death, Gerda gives the papers to Tony before leaving for Amsterdam. Around the table sit Gerda, Tony, Erika, Klothilde, Gotthold’s three daughters, and Sesemi. Tony proposes that they meet every week and read from the papers. Friederike says they will see their dead again. Tony is unsure. The last word belongs to Sesemi, who insists that they will.
Sources
Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie, Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft edition, Project Gutenberg no. 34811. The family papers appear in Part II, chapter 1, Part VIII, chapter 7, and Part XI, chapter 4.
English edition: H. T. Lowe-Porter’s translation, Alfred A. Knopf, 1927 printing of the 1924 translation, volume one and volume two.
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