Museumsportal Berlin

Mori Ôgai (born Mori Rintarô, 1868-1922) was a doctor, translator and cultural critic. He studied medicine at German practices, both in Japan and in Germany. From 1887 to 1888, he worked at the Robert Koch Institute of Hygiene. Besides his own work and medical treatises, Ôgai translated 130 works of European literature and culture into Japanese, including both parts of Goethe’s Faust. His Berlin novel "The Dancing Girl" is seen as the beginning of modern literature in Japan.
The Mori-Ôgai-Gedenkstätte memorial site is part of the Japan Centre at the Humboldt University of Berlin and is located in Ôgai's first residence in Berlin. Besides the permanent exhibition on the life and work of Mori Ôgai, there are special exhibitions, academic lectures, film evenings, and calligraphy and Ikebana courses. As well as the reference library, there is also a digital catalogue with research papers on Ôgai and translations of his works.