If you take a ferry from Klaipėda to the Curonian Spit for the first time, it will probably be during the summer. Ten minutes by water is all it takes before you enter the Curonian Spit.

A strong wind plays in your hair, the water of the lagoon glitters in the sun. Perpetually hungry, the seagulls come very close and try to start a conversation in a foreign language. Their intentions are clear without understanding the language they speak. If there is no bread in your pocket, the birds lose interest very quickly. The closer to the Curonian Spit you come, the stronger the smell of the pines from the Spit. The smell calms you down, peace is in the air. You are impatient and feel like something special will happen any moment...

It is most likely that you are going to visit Nida first—the biggest and the last settlement in the town of Neringa, located on a thin, 50 kilometre strip of land along the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit. The other 50 kilometres of the Spit lie on the other side of the border.

I guess that you are going to go to the dunes, and walking through the forest you will visit the Baltic Sea. In town you will look at the old fishermen’s houses, old monuments, so-called "krikštai", and the colourful weathervanes; taking a stroll by the lagoon you will visit the "Thomas Mann Summer House". Whatever you do, don’t hurry, take your time and go quietly. The Curonian Spit is a sacred place. Wind, sea and sand—three elements—created this special land; there the human is only a guest. But each and every guest is generously presented with the beauty of the dunes, the freshness of the sea, the smell of the forest, gifts one will never forget. One will wish to visit the place again and again, in order to feel the energy of nature—to become happy again.

Thomas Mann visited Nida for the first time in 1929. Remembering the visit, he wrote: "We spent several days in Nida... and were so impressed that it is truly impossible to write about the uniqueness and beauty of the nature of these environs. We decided to acquire a regular place to live in this distant place". A year later, a house, reminiscent of a fisherman’s hut and designed by H. Reismann, arose on "Uošvė Hill" (mother–in–law hill)—a new place to work and rest for the Nobel laureate.

On 16 July 1930, Thomas Mann arrived at the summer home with his family. He fulfilled his dream of having a summer home on the Baltic Sea "...on a Baltic Sea, which I have never known. Here, the sea and the beach are reminiscent of nature’s primordial storm|chaos". The writer and his family spent three summers in Nida (1930—1932). Here he wrote "Joseph and his brothers", various essays and letters.

With Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Thomas Mann and his family were forced to leave Germany. In 1939, with Germany’s annexation of Klaipėda, the writer’s summer home became property of the Reich. It became Hermann Göring’s hunting lodge. After the war, the house was in an awful state, with no windows or doors. There were plans to have it demolished. Perhaps the house was saved as a result of the writer Antanas Venclova’s meeting with Thomas Mann in Weimar in 1955.

The summer home was restored in 1965—1967. A memorial exhibition and library were established. Between 1995— 1996, the house was refurbished for a fourth time thanks to joint Lithuanian-German efforts. The home’s authentic study, living room and veranda were restored. In 1996, the summer home was given the status of a memorial museum and a new exhibition was opened. The Thomas Mann Culture Center, which has become a site for international meetings, conferences and seminars, has been located at the house since 1995.

Živilė Etevičiūtė & Vitalija Jonušienė