Munich in July in the early 1900s was a fascinating city on a beautiful clear day. In Thomas Mann's novella, Gladius Dei, published in 1902, the city is compared to Florence five centuries earlier. This is no coincidence. The story contains smaller shadows of the large drama earlier played out in Renaissance Venice: stories about faith and anger.

"Munich was luminous," the story opens. Everything seems unhurried, especially on the northern avenues. "P