Feuchtwanger Institute for Exile Studies

Marta Feuchtwanger willed her house and her husband's fine library to the University of Southern California shortly after Lion's death. The house was sold to a German consortium interested in preserving this historic monument as a study center, and the proceeds were committed to create a suite of rooms as a permanent memorial to Lion Feuchtwanger, to his late widow Marta (1891-1987), and to his literary legacy. Another 20,000 books from Feuchtwanger's library are still on long-term loan at the couple's former house, Villa Aurora, which is an artists' residence and an historic landmark today. In addition to Lion Feuchtwanger’s collection of rare books, the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library houses his personal materials such as correspondences, manuscripts and photographs as well as archives on other German-speaking exiles such as Marta Feuchtwanger, Ludwig Marcuse, Hanns Eisler, Felix Guggenheim and Heinrich Mann. 

The library contains a virtually complete collection of Feuchtwanger's own works in their numerous editions and translations. During his long career as a writer, Feuchtwanger wrote 19 plays, 19 novels, and numerous short stories and essays. Feuchtwanger's works have been, and continue to be, published in many countries, and his works have been translated into more than thirty languages. 

Researchers from around the world turn to the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library for their research on the German-speaking exiles in Southern California or other related subjects. The Feuchtwanger Memorial Library also offers research grants to those interested in working with the collections.