A number of events occurred in 1911 inspiring Mann to begin work on Death in Venice. One of these was the death of Czech-Austrian composer Gustav Mahler on May 18, 1911, a brooding modernist who made his living as a conductor. Mahler's fierce and uncompromising dedication to his art, and demand for perfection from his musicians, appealed to Mann, who had met him a few years before his death. Mann not only gives von Aschenbach Mahler's first name, but he also models his hero's physical description on the composer. Mann was no stranger to Venice either. In fact, he was vacationing there when Mahler died, and followed reports of the composer's last days in the local papers.

In addition to the shock of Mahler's death, Mann was influenced by the deterioration of the political situation in Europe at this time. In 1911, Germany sent its battleship, The Panther, into...