Hans Magnus Enzensberger was a public intellectual and precise observer of politics and society in the Federal Republic. But Germany no longer needs full-time conscience-bearers, let alone writers.
When Hans Magnus Enzensberger received the Georg Büchner Prize in 1963 at the age of not even 34, he said in his acceptance speech: “I sometimes hear that writers are the nation’s conscience.” However, he considers this to be “a pompous, silly and empty phrase”.