The photograph shows the family of the author Thomas Mann on 14 October 1932 in front of the patio door of his house in Poschinger Straße in Munich. Standing next to the author and his wife Katia are their two eldest children Erika (1^st from right) and Klaus (1^st from left) and the two youngest, Elisabeth (2^nd from left) and Michael (3^rd from left). The second oldest son Golo and second oldest daughter Monika are missing from the picture. This late summer photo was taken a few months before Hitler was named Reichskanzler and the Mann family's subsequent emigration a few weeks later. Thomas and Katia Mann did not return to Munich after a holiday in spring 1933 and in September of the same year they took up residence in Küsnacht in Switzerland. Their children followed them there gradually via various routes.

The photographer was Kuno Fiedler – a theologian who had been acquainted with Thomas Mann since 1915. He also initially remained in Germany after the Nazis seized power. His criticism of the regime led to him losing his position as a teacher in Thuringia and he made a living as a journalist using a pseudonym. In September 1936 he was arrested by the Gestapo on account of his friendship with the émigré author and then imprisoned in the court prison in Wurzburg. Around two and a half weeks later he managed to escape and crossed Lake Constance to seek exile in Switzerland, where he stayed for a while in the new home of the Mann family. He died in 1973.