Originally planned as a novella and intended as a light counterpart to "Death in Venice," "The Magic Mountain" emerged as one of the great novels of classical modernism. A brief visit to a sanatorium in Davos turns into a seven-year stay for the protagonist Hans Castorp, with the health resort becoming a stage for the European mood before World War I. Begun in July 1913 and interrupted during the war by essayistic works, particularly "Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man," the novel was completed and published in 1924. The text basis for this volume is the first edition from 1924. The commentary volume on "The Magic Mountain" contains detailed essays on the history of its creation and reception, as well as on the text and source situation. The commentary provides a dense fabric of interpretations from philosophical, historical, intellectual, and medical sources.