Johann Buddenbrook Character Analysis in Buddenbrooks

Johann Buddenbrook is the family patriarch. He is technically Johann Buddenbrook II, but most characters refer to him simply as Johann. He is the son of the first Johann Buddenbrook, who founded the Buddenbrook firm. Buddenbrooks begins shortly after Johann buys the house on Meng Strasse for his family to live in, and the story ends not long after the family is forced to sell the house due to financial hardship. Johann is husband to Antoinette and father to Consul Buddenbrook. Johann has a son—Gotthold—by his first marriage, but he has been estranged from Gotthold ever since Gotthold married a woman Johann didn’t approve of. In the end, Johann takes his grudge against his firstborn son to the grave. He retires from head of the Buddenbrook firm, leaving it to the consul to take over. Johann is more dismissive of religion than his son the consul, preferring to place his faith not in God but in the earthly matters he can control: running his business well, working hard, and making careful and considered decisions about how he crafts his public image and how he spends his money. Johann retires from the firm after Antoinette’s death and dies not long after.

Johann Buddenbrook Quotes in Buddenbrooks

The Buddenbrooks quotes below are all either spoken by Johann Buddenbrook or refer to Johann Buddenbrook. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Bon appétit!” she said with a sudden, brief, cordial nod, while her eyes rapidly swept the full length of the table to the children at the far end.

Related Characters: Antoinette Buddenbrook (speaker), The Consul (Johann Buddenbrook III/Jean Buddenbrook), Gotthold Buddenbrook, Johann Buddenbrook

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote takes place at the Buddenbrook family’s new house on Meng Strasse, where all their close friends, family, and business associates have gathered for the Buddenbrooks’ Thursday dinner. Antoinette has just been speaking with her son, the consul, about a troubling letter Johann’s estranged son Gotthold has sent to demand his rightful inheritance from the family fortune. Though Antoinette and the consul are both troubled by the letter—and by how Johann is likely to respond to it—Antoinette insists they discuss such matters later. In the meantime, they have guests to attend to—and with that, she returns to the dining Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a.

“Father, I find this whole affair with Gotthold so depressing,” the consul said softly.

“Nonsense, Jean, no sentimentalities! What depresses you about it?”

Related Characters: The Consul (Johann Buddenbrook III/Jean Buddenbrook) (speaker), Johann Buddenbrook (speaker), Gotthold Buddenbrook

Page Number and Citation: 44

Explanation and Analysis:

This exchange between Johann and the consul takes place after the Buddenbrooks’ guests have left Meng Strasse following the family dinner that begins the novel. The consul has just given to Johann the letter in which Johann’s estranged son Gotthold demands money he claims the Buddenbrook family owes him, which angers Johann. Johann disowned Gotthold after he married a woman Johann didn’t approve of, and he hasn’t forgiven him. When the consul, wanting to resolve the issue with Gotthold, comments that the situation is “so depressing,” Johann scoffs at the consul’s show of emotion. “Nonsense, Jean, no sentimentalities!” he cries, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error.

Johann Buddenbrook Character Timeline in Buddenbrooks

The timeline below shows where the character Johann Buddenbrook appears in Buddenbrooks. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Tradition, Modernity, and Change Theme Icon

...the sofa, listening to her eight-year-old daughter, Tony, recite scripture. Tony’s eagerness makes her grandfather, Johann Buddenbrook, let out a robust, mocking laugh. Out of respect, the others laugh along with... (full context)

Tony addresses her grandfather Johann excitedly, telling him a fact she’s learned about lightning and thunder bolts. Tony’s excitement annoys... (full context)

Personal Fulfillment and Self-Knowledge Theme Icon

...appears in the doorway, holding hands with young Klothilde. Klothilde, the daughter of one of Johann’s nephews, comes from a line of the Buddenbrook family that does not own any property.... (full context)

...Christian; he also has rather unhealthy teeth. Thomas has strong features and resembles his grandfather, Johann. More guests arrive, and the adults find seats on the various sofas and chairs. Dr.... (full context)

...of the Bethsy Buddenbrook—arrive next, and slightly late. Consul Buddenbrook kisses his mother-in-law’s hand as Johann Buddenbrook cheerily greets the Kröger patriarch, Lebrecht Kröger, a large and respectable man who has... (full context)

...is from Gotthold, the consul’s stepbrother. This is the third letter that Gotthold has sent. Johann only responded to the first. Antoinette and the consul know what the unopened letter is... (full context)

The consul is in a tricky position. He thinks Johann should give in and honor Gotthold’s wishes, but Johann has stood firm. The consul doesn’t... (full context)

Dinner carries on, and the men discuss politics. Johann praises Napoleon’s “personal greatness,” but the consul disagrees: he and his younger generation can’t justify... (full context)

...mentions a time they visited a large garden the Buddenbrooks own outside Burg Gate, and Johann laments how unkempt it was at the time. The consul mocks his father for being... (full context)

...children get plum pudding. Thomas fetches two bottles of Madeira from the cellar, and then Johann toasts “the Buddenbrook family, both present and absent.” The consul is perplexed at his father’s... (full context)

After dinner, Johann invites his guests to join him for cigars and drinks. But first, he gives the... (full context)

...flicker. After everyone has left, the consul heads upstairs to at last approach his father (Johann) about Gotthold’s letter. (full context)

Johann greets his son (the consul) jovially, though he admits that the weather has got him... (full context)

In the letter, Gotthold condemns Johann for ignoring his first letters. He acknowledges that Johann was upset when Gotthold married and... (full context)

Johann finishes reading the letter and flings it from his hands. The consul reads the letter... (full context)

The consul delicately tries to reason with Johann, suggesting that it tarnishes the firm’s newfound prosperity for Johann to be on such poor... (full context)

...and a half years pass. It’s April 14, 1838, and spring is in full swing. Johann sits beside the cradle of his new granddaughter, Clara, who was born just that morning—somewhat... (full context)

...consul goes, the more aged and yellow the record’s pages become. He turns back to Johann’s account of his marriage to Josephine, his first wife, with whom he only had one... (full context)

Elsewhere in the family records, Johann has outlined the family’s genealogy, tracing their roots all the way back to the 16th... (full context)

...drawer of the secretary desk. Then, he joins his family in the other room, where Johann and Antoinette are gathered around baby Clara as Bethsy lies happily in bed. Bethsy is... (full context)

...involve himself in community life, no one much likes him. Tony has heard her grandfather Johann grouse about Herr Hagenström often enough that she doesn’t care for Julie all that much—and... (full context)

...then Christian returns to his former state of calm—he was only joking. The consul and Johann scold him. (full context)

...the house on Meng Strasse, Madame Antoinette Buddenbrook’s health takes a turn for the worse. Johann Buddenbrook sits beside his wife’s bed until her death, remaining stoic through it all. (full context)

After Antoinette’s death, Johann decides to retire from his role as head of the business. Johann Buddenbrook Jr. (the... (full context)

Gotthold appears at the Buddenbrook home, but the consul regretfully shares that Gotthold is too late—Johann died last night. Gotthold’s face falls. He asks if he can at least expect “justice... (full context)

...when he leaves school and starts working for the firm, and the consul regrets that Johann died before he could see this happen. Thomas has grown up a lot in the... (full context)

...necessary to have a butler, as the family won’t be entertaining guests so soon after Johann’s death. When Bethsy doesn’t catch the consul’s subtext (or perhaps just chooses not to), the... (full context)

...rather sickly, with “bluish veins” still visible at his temples. He looks like his grandfather (Johann), and he’s developed a taste for modern literature, which boggles his family. (full context)

Johann Buddenbrook Character Analysis

Johann Buddenbrook Quotes in Buddenbrooks

Part 1, Chapter 3 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 10 Quotes

Johann Buddenbrook Character Timeline in Buddenbrooks