Villa Aurora Reopens August 30 After LA Wildfires

Villa Aurora, the German cultural institution in Los Angeles, will reopen on August 30, 2025, after being closed for one and a half years due to devastating wildfires in January 2025. The Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V. announced that smoke damage has been remediated, the building structure inspected, the garden cleared of fire debris, and toxicological assessments completed. Director Claudia Gordon stated the house will resume its full role as a transatlantic mediator centered on an artist-in-residence program. An Open House on August 30 will welcome the public, and a portrait of Marta Feuchtwanger will return. Established in 1995 as a residency and meeting place, Villa Aurora—alongside the Thomas Mann House—serves as a site of exile for intellectuals during the Nazi era. The Thomas Mann House had already reopened six months after the fires. Villa Aurora was home to writer Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958) and his wife Marta (1891–1987), who was central to the German-speaking exile community in California. Regular residency fellowships are offered for both houses.