The Collections That Bring the Boys Together

Reunion

Coins and antiquities give Hans and Konradin a safe first language for approaching one another and symbolize the unequal worlds they temporarily share.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Hans’s Private Museum Hans’s Private Museum from "Reunion". Hans’s Private Museum Objects of wonder Hans keeps coins, stones, fragments, and antiquities alongside books and art reproductions.

Hans’s Private Museum from "Reunion". Hans’s Private Museum Objects of wonder Hans keeps coins, stones, fragments, and antiquities alongside books and art reproductions.

Hans’s Private Museum Objects of wonder Hans keeps coins, stones, fragments, and antiquities alongside books and art reproductions. A world made personal His collection gives shape to curiosity and ambition. It also offers a possible invitation into the inward life he rarely shares.

Coins as an Opening Coins as an Opening from "Reunion". Coins as an Opening A deliberate display Hans brings Greek coins to class and studies them where Konradin can notice.

Coins as an Opening from "Reunion". Coins as an Opening A deliberate display Hans brings Greek coins to class and studies them where Konradin can notice.

Coins as an Opening A deliberate display Hans brings Greek coins to class and studies them where Konradin can notice. Shared expertise Konradin recognizes the objects and handles them like a fellow collector. Their first substantial exchange begins through mutual interest rather than social introductions.

The Home Invitation The Home Invitation from "Reunion". The Home Invitation Treasures revealed Hans shows Konradin his books, coins, and collected objects after welcoming him home.

The Home Invitation from "Reunion". The Home Invitation Treasures revealed Hans shows Konradin his books, coins, and collected objects after welcoming him home.

The Home Invitation Treasures revealed Hans shows Konradin his books, coins, and collected objects after welcoming him home. Anxiety beneath pride Hans wants to impress his friend but feels ashamed when his father performs deference to aristocratic status. The visit exposes class insecurity beneath the display.

Konradin’s Room Konradin’s Room from "Reunion". Konradin’s Room A reciprocal display Konradin proudly lays out Greek coins, a glass bowl, a figurine, and other treasures.

Konradin’s Room from "Reunion". Konradin’s Room A reciprocal display Konradin proudly lays out Greek coins, a glass bowl, a figurine, and other treasures.

Konradin’s Room A reciprocal display Konradin proudly lays out Greek coins, a glass bowl, a figurine, and other treasures. Intimacy within limits The boys share wonder and collector’s knowledge. Yet the welcoming room does not open the whole household to Hans.

Memory’s Lost Objects Memory’s Lost Objects from "Reunion". Memory’s Lost Objects Material traces Hans’s adult account returns to the rooms and objects that once made each boy’s world visible.

Memory’s Lost Objects from "Reunion". Memory’s Lost Objects Material traces Hans’s adult account returns to the rooms and objects that once made each boy’s world visible.

Memory’s Lost Objects Material traces Hans’s adult account returns to the rooms and objects that once made each boy’s world visible. A vanished setting The destruction of Stuttgart and Palais Hohenfels turns those collections into memories of a lost place. The objects cannot restore the friendship they once supported.

Before Konradin’s arrival, in Hans’s bedroom

Early March 1932, at school

Spring 1932, on Konradin’s first visit to Hans’s house

Later spring 1932, during Hans’s first visit to Palais Hohenfels

Decades later, while Hans considers the memorial appeal