He was considered one of the world’s best-known German intellectuals: the publicist Hans Magnus Enzensberger died in Munich at the age of 93. This was announced by the publishers Suhrkamp and Hanser. Reactions to Enzensberger’s death, which leaves a gap in the German cultural landscape, come not only from the culture and media industry but also from politics. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, among others, paid tribute to his diverse work.
The Munzinger archive calls Enzensberger a “jack of all trades” in the entry about his person. However, he became known primarily as an essayist and poet. But he was also active as a journalist, cultural critic, translator, media theorist, editor and author of children’s books.
In a letter of condolence to Enzensberger’s widow Katharina, the Federal President wrote: “Your husband never hesitated to ask even seemingly simple questions. Inexhaustible originality, surprising ideas, a love of wit and irony were the unmistakable signature of his works.” Enzensberger “personally embodied the freedom of thought and expression that our democracy needs like the air it breathes”. He had “always made his readership curious, about unexpected thoughts, experiences, about foreign countries and cultures”. He is personally grateful for the encounters with him, “which have always made me smarter and made me happier,” writes Steinmeier.
The Bavarian Minister of Art Markus Blume (CSU) also recognized Enzensberger as one of the most important intellectuals and political thinkers in Germany. This was a “bright, lively, restless, independent spirit”. Enzensberger wrote literary history. With his well-reflected essays and statements, he “accompanied and commented on political and literary debates in the Federal Republic in an eloquent and opinionated manner – often contrary to the zeitgeist” for more than 60 years. Blume wrote in a statement that his honest view of people, society and the world will be missed.
The Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth (Greens), recognizes Enzensberger as “one of the most versatile and important German intellectuals”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/.”He leaves us an overwhelming life’s work that includes numerous poems and essays, but also children’s books , dramas, specialist articles on mathematics and political statements,” says the Green politician. “Hans Magnus Enzensberger was a solitaire among Germany’s poets and thinkers.” With his verses and critical reflections, he accompanied the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, whose founding on the ruins of a devastated country he himself witnessed at the age of twenty.
Enzensberger advanced to become one of the main figures of Gruppe 47
Born in Allgäu in 1929, the eldest son of a teacher and a telecommunications technician grew up in Nuremberg with three younger brothers. In the final days of World War II, he was drafted into the notorious “Volkssturm,” a contingent of youth and old men used by the Nazi regime. Enzensberger’s outspoken rejection of surviving Nazi traditions earned him the title of “angry young man” soon after 1945. His writings were formative for the generation of 1968, who, like him, rebelled against the continuing traditions of the Nazi era. He also became one of the main figures of Gruppe 47 – a group of writers who formed an influential institution in the cultural scene in the Federal Republic.
His literary debut, the volume of poetry “defence of the wolves” (1957), was published in lower case and caused a stir. From 1965 Enzensberger published the Kursbuch magazine, which he co-founded, published by Suhrkamp Verlag, which added an important voice to the discourse on the self-image of the Federal Republic.
Enzensberger received numerous awards for his diverse literary activities, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1963 and most recently the Frank Schirrmacher Prize in 2015. He worked as an editor, publisher and author into old age. “He was an intellectual authority that we will sorely miss,” Federal President Steinmeier paid tribute to Hans Magnus Enzensberger and his life’s work.