Herr Albin Character Analysis in The Magic Mountain

Herr Albin is a resident of the Berghof. He’s a bit of a rabblerouser—early in Hans’s stay, he overhears Herr Albin antagonizing several female patients, playfully (but effectively) intimidating them with his knife and threatening to retrieve his revolver from his room. Herr Albin insists that his illness should excuse his poor behavior, and this justification lays the foundation for Hans’s later musings about illness, death, and suffering as sources of great dignity and freedom. It’s Herr Albin who provides the revolvers for Settembrini and Naphta’s duel toward the end of the novel.

Herr Albin Quotes in The Magic Mountain

The The Magic Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Herr Albin or refer to Herr Albin. 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:

On the whole, however, it seemed to him that although honor had its advantages, so, too, did disgrace, and that indeed the advantages of the latter were almost boundless. He tried putting himself in Herr Albin’s shoes and imagining how it must be when one is finally free of all the pressures honor brings and one can endlessly enjoy the unbounded advantages of disgrace—and the young man was terrified by a sense of dissolute sweetness that set his heart pounding even faster for a while.

Related Characters: Leo Naphta, Herr Albin, Hans Castorp, Joachim Ziemssen

Page Number and Citation: 79

Explanation and Analysis:

Hans has just overheard a resident named Herr Albin antagonize a group of women, playfully (but perhaps also somewhat seriously) threatening to kill himself. Herr Albin, as he goes on to explain to these women, believes that his disease is incurable and that this gives him the freedom to do things on his own terms, behaving irrationally and immorally and rejecting social norms as he pleases. After things have settled down, Hans considers the significance of what Herr Albin has just proposed: that illness gives a person the opportunity to discard “honor” and embrace “disgrace.” Though Hans does not have 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. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum.

Herr Albin Character Timeline in The Magic Mountain

The timeline below shows where the character Herr Albin appears in The Magic Mountain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Later, in the garden, Hans listens as two shrieking women plead with Herr Albin to put away his knife. Herr Albin continues smoking his cigarette and refuses to grant... (full context)

Hans, listening to this scene unfold, wonders whether Herr Albin is serious or joking. Regardless, he feels a little envious of the man’s attitude. He... (full context)

...the two of them go downstairs for their afternoon snack. Hans asks if Joachim heard Herr Albin ’s outburst. Joachim did, and now he complains about the man’s disruptiveness and how it’s... (full context)

...same pleasant sensation of being free from honor that he felt when he listened to Herr Albin earlier that day. (full context)

...the garden to listen to the performance. Among them is Hermine Kleefeld, as well as Herr Albin . Hans and Joachim sit at a table by themselves because Hans wants to smoke... (full context)

...in that moment, he recognizes in her the same freedom from honor he saw in Herr Albin . As he looks at her, his thoughts grow jumbled, and he can’t pay attention... (full context)

...long since learned how to pass the time without intellectual stimulation. Currently, a pamphlet that Herr Albin introduced to the population, The Art of Seduction, is circulating among the residents. Magnus, the... (full context)

...find some friends to join them. Hans goes upstairs and rounds up Ferge, Wehsal, and Herr Albin . He also gets Frau Stöhr, Fräulein Kleefeld, and the Magnuses. Clavdia and Peeperkorn gather... (full context)

Herr Albin asks if a spirit is in the room, and eventually the glass spells out H-O-L-G-E-R,... (full context)

...but Wehsal—his second—is horrified. Because nobody involved actually owns a pistol, they borrow them from Herr Albin , who also shows them how to use them. Hans selects the duel’s location: the... (full context)

Herr Albin Character Analysis

Herr Albin Quotes in The Magic Mountain

Part 3, Chapter 8: Herr Albin Quotes

Herr Albin Character Timeline in The Magic Mountain