„Cocktails and Book Tales“ in Munich on Unesco World Book Day 23 April 2015!

If you are looking for a “typical” English club in Germany, you would do well to start in Munich. The Kaufmanns Casino was established in 1832, the year when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe died. Since then it has been hosting “tout Munich” – business people, artists, lawyers, physicians, authors, scientists – for conferences and cocktails. The Kaufmanns Casino has become one of Munich’s institutions. Munich without the Kaufmanns Casino would not be the same for all who are living in the wonderful capital of Bavaria.

And so, it is exactly the right venue for 11 Munich antiquarian booksellers to invite their customers on 23 April 2015 to a five o’clock tea (without tea) with music, finger food and drinks. The main course will, of course, be books. That is what the UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day is about, after all. If you have received one of the coveted invitations, you will be personally welcomed by the butler Jürgen Goldfuß – very charming, in white gloves and tails. A Jazz piano player will tickle the ivories in the background. In the elegant rooms, with a view of the English Garden and a discreetly lit bar, the antiquarian booksellers will await their guests. They will have displayed rare and beautiful books, prints and manuscripts on tables, ready and eager to show, to explain and to talk about them. If you feel inclined to buy, no-one will stop you, but the emphasis is on the conversation: “Cocktails and Book Tales” in the real sense of the word.

“Cocktails and Book Tales” is only one of dozens of events on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April 2015, which are being held under the auspices of ILAB and UNESCO from Australia, Japan, South Africa to Europe and the USA. In places you would never expect – on boats and skyscrapers, in woolsheds, hotels, restaurants, pubs, clubs, museums, schools and in the streets – ILAB booksellers will “pop up” showing rare and expensive books and, at the same time, raising money to buy school books for the children in South Sudan. What is taken for granted in Munich and many places across the world, is still a luxury in South Sudan: the access to books, to knowledge, and thus to a better and free life. Together with ILAB and UNESCO, the Munich antiquarian booksellers support the schools in South Sudan. They will fill the symbolic empty bookcases with symbolic book spines, and each donation will be spent by UNESCO to buy real school books for the children in Africa.

Munich is but one link in a worldwide chain of spontaneous bookish flashmobs spanning the whole world! These booksellers are looking forward to seeing you there:

Abeceda Antiquariat, Christof Groessl - Hartung & Hartung - J. J. Heckenhauer - Eberhard Köstler - Daniela Kromp - Antiquariat Kurz - Musikantiquariat Marion Neugebauer - Dasa Pahor - Thomas Rezek - Uwe Turszynski - Dieter Zipprich

COCKTAILS AND BOOK TALES IN MUNICH ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY!

THURSDAY 23 APRIL – 5 pm

Kaufmanns Casino

Odeonsplatz 6, Eingang Galeriestraße
80539 Munich
GERMANY

by appointment only

LET’S PUT THE R A R E IN THE UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY!

>>> Learn more

AUSTRALIA - JAPAN - SOUTH AFRICA - RUSSIA - HUNGARY - AUSTRIA - GERMANY - ITALY - SPAIN - NETHERLANDS - UNITED KINGDOM - USA ...

>>> ... and anywhere else in the world where you decide to be a part of it!

SCHOOLS NEED BOOKS - Help UNESCO to realize the vision of a literate world for all!

>>> Support literacy and fill the bookcases on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April 2015

(Pictures: UNESCO, ILAB, Stefan Kühn / Wikimedia Commons, Kaufmanns Casino)