Elmau Castle

Schloss Elmau was the place where in March 2026 a sort of re-enactment was held of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. In that book, the guests of a sanatorium in Switzerland form a microcosm of Europe before World War I. But this is more than 100 years later, and in Germany.

The eccentric hotel owner Dietmar Müller-Elmau gave Bulgarian political philosopher Ivan Krastev (author of acclaimed books like After Europe and Dismantling Democracy) carte blanche to invite about twenty thinkers. They debated here about America, Europe, Russia, and the future.

He brought the world's most famous liberals to the hotel. Alexander Soros is there, son of the renowned philanthropist George Soros and the director of Open Society Foundations. Along with Avril Haines, the former CIA chief who briefed Joe Biden every morning about the world's secrets. They shared the stage with a large group of renowned academics like professor Yuri Slezkine from Berkeley, who offers a rare insight into Russian thinking, and Timothy Garton Ash from Oxford. Also present was the right-wing columnist Walter Russell Mead.

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