[A summer afternoon in Grinzing. Thomas Mann visits Sigmund Freud]

Focussing on June 14th, 1936 when Mann visited Freud to read him the speech he had delivered in Vienna in celebration of Freud's 80th birthday, the paper investigates the "less than simple" relation between the two men. It shows how they gradually approached each other and then in 1929 entered into direct contact after Mann had publicly underlined Freud's relevance for his project "psychology and myth". Some traces of personal ambivalence contained in the 1936 lecture are highlighted. The author discusses the potential significance for both men of Freud's response to Mann's speech where he interpreted aspects of Napoleon's life as based on his identification with the biblical Joseph in order to surpass his elder brother. Finally it is considered whether Mann's contact with Freud may have helped him to cope with the trauma of the early loss of his father.