# Buddenbrooks — Character guide

> Key figures in Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann.

- [Thomas Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/thomas_buddenbrook.md): The ambitious, disciplined head of the Buddenbrook family firm, who struggles to uphold the family's social and commercial standing.
- [Antonie 'Tony' Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/antonie_buddenbrook.md): The vivacious and proud daughter of the Buddenbrook family, whose marriages and misfortunes are central to the family's saga.
- [Christian Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/christian_buddenbrook.md): Thomas's younger brother, a theatrical, hypochondriac man whose lack of business sense and scandals trouble the family.
- [Hanno Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/hanno_buddenbrook.md): The sensitive, musically gifted son of Thomas and Gerda, representing the family's declining vitality.
- [Gerda Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/gerda_buddenbrook.md): Thomas Buddenbrook's musically sophisticated wife from Amsterdam, who remains somewhat aloof from Lübeck society.
- [Johann Buddenbrook (the Consul)](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/johann_buddenbrook_consul.md): Thomas's father, a pious and respected merchant who leads the family firm in the earlier generation.
- [Elisabeth Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/elisabeth_buddenbrook.md): Thomas's mother, born Kröger, a dignified and devout matriarch of the Buddenbrook household.
- [Johann Buddenbrook (the Elder)](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/johann_buddenbrook_senior.md): The robust, jovial patriarch who founded the family's fortune, appearing in the early family chronicle.
- [Ida Jungmann](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/ida_jungmann.md): The faithful nurse and governess to the Buddenbrook children, serving the family for decades.
- [Bendix Grünlich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/bendix_gruenlich.md): Tony Buddenbrook's first husband, a Hamburg businessman whose financial dishonesty is later revealed.
- [Alois Permaneder](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/alois_permaneder.md): Tony Buddenbrook's second husband, a good-natured but lazy Munich beer merchant.
- [Morten Schwarzkopf](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/morten_schwarzkopf.md): A medical student in Travemünde with liberal political views, who becomes Tony's first romantic interest.
- [Hugo Weinschenk](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/hugo_weinschenk.md): The energetic director of a fire insurance company who marries Tony's daughter, Erica Grünlich.
- [Clara Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/clara_buddenbrook.md): The pious younger sister of Thomas, Christian, and Tony, who marries Pastor Tiburtius.
- [Clothilde Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/clothilde_buddenbrook.md): A poor, patient cousin of the Buddenbrooks who lives with the family and later marries modestly.
- [Gotthold Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/gotthold_buddenbrook.md): Johann Buddenbrook's son from his first marriage, who feels slighted in the family inheritance.
- [Justus Kröger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/justus_kroeger.md): Elisabeth Buddenbrook's brother, a member of the Kröger family who faces financial decline.
- [Lebrecht Kröger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/lebrecht_kroeger.md): The elegant and aristocratic grandfather of the Buddenbrook children, from the Kröger family.
- [Hermann Hagenström](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/hermann_hagenstroem.md): A business rival of the Buddenbrooks, whose family rises as the Buddenbrooks decline.
- [Moritz Hagenström](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/moritz_hagenstroem.md): Hermann Hagenström's son, a successful and ambitious lawyer who becomes a political rival to Thomas.
- [Dr. Grabow](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/dr_grabow.md): The kindly family doctor who attends the Buddenbrooks through multiple generations.
- [Therese Weichbrodt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/therese_weichbrodt.md): The dedicated, sharp-tongued proprietor of the boarding school attended by Tony and her daughter.
- [Kai Graf Mölln](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/kai.md): Hanno's only close friend at school, a count's son who shares his sensitive and artistic nature.
- [Pastor Sievert Tiburtius](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/sievert_tiburtius.md): A pastor from Riga who marries Clara Buddenbrook and later inherits her portion of the family fortune.
- [Edmund Pfühl](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/edmund_pfuehl.md): Hanno's stern but devoted piano teacher, who introduces him to classical music.
- [Stephan Kistenmaker](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/stephan_kistenmaker.md): A loyal friend and business associate of Thomas Buddenbrook, who later becomes a consul.
- [Jean Jacques Hoffstede](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/jean_jacques_hoffstede.md): A poet and friend of the elder Buddenbrooks, representing the cultured society of old Lübeck.
- [Siegismund Gosch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/gosch.md): A dramatic, somewhat sinister broker and translator who admires the Buddenbrook family.
- [Dr. Mantelsack](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/dr_mantelsack.md): Hanno's Latin teacher at school, who embodies the rigid and oppressive educational system.
- [Erica Grünlich](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/erica_gruenlich.md): Tony's daughter from her first marriage, who later marries Director Hugo Weinschenk.
- [Friederike Överdieck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/friederike_overdieck.md): A member of the Kröger family, one of the three elderly spinster sisters in Lübeck society.
- [Henriette Överdieck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/henriette_overdieck.md): Another of the elderly Överdieck sisters, part of the old Lübeck social circle.
- [Pfiffi Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/pfiffi_buddenbrook.md): The small dog belonging to the Buddenbrook family, mentioned in the family chronicle.
- [Madame Antoinette Buddenbrook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/madame_antoinette_buddenbrook.md): The French-born wife of Johann Buddenbrook the Elder, mother of Gotthold.
- [Julchen Möllendorpf](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/julchen_mollendorpf.md): A member of the wealthy Möllendorpf family, part of the Lübeck patrician society.
- [Peter Döhlmann](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/peter_dohlmann.md): A jovial, heavy-drinking friend of the Buddenbrook family and business associate.
- [Dr. Gieseke](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/dr_gieseke.md): A lawyer and later senator, who is a contemporary and rival of Thomas Buddenbrook.
- [Burgomaster Dr. Langhals](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/burgomaster_langhals.md): A respected city official and friend of the Buddenbrook family.
- [Herr Kesselmeyer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/herr_kesselmeyer.md): A banker from Hamburg who exposes Grünlich's financial ruin.
- [Captain Schwarzkopf](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/schwarzkopf_family.md): The commander of the naval station in Travemünde, father of Morten Schwarzkopf.
- [Frau Schwarzkopf](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/frau_schwarzkopf.md): The wife of Captain Schwarzkopf, who hosts Tony during her stay in Travemünde.
- [Adolf Todtenhaupt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/adolf_todtenhaupt.md): The meticulous head clerk of the Buddenbrook family firm.
- [Armgard von Schilling](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters/armgard_von_schilling.md): A poor noblewoman who becomes the companion of Gerda Buddenbrook.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/buddenbrooks_se/characters