Brandt and Grass: the history of a friendship

Abstract

Both Nobel Prize winners – Willy Brandt and Günter Grass – combined in 1965–1974 a relationship with the shape of partnership. Many observers call this the hitherto unfamiliar relationship between a leading politician and an intellectual friend in Germany. The author of this dissertation comes to the conclusion that only to a limited extent can friendship be mentioned here. He presents four roles in which Grass takes on Brandt: as a world-recognized writer, as a critical intellectual who publicly held the position and consciously intervened, and at the same time self-proclaimed or invited adviser or electoral fighter who in 1961–1972 he personally supported Brandt. Both personalities, to a large extent, gained from this cooperation. Grass suggested that Brandt was aptly worded for his performances, this role – “language-maker” – should be regarded as the most productive. The writer himself gained thanks to his closeness with Brandt and his influence. However, since 1973 his attitude of criticism has topped him, which contributed to Brandt's retreat in 1974, relations between the two were in a state of deepening crisis. Nevertheless, their partnership largely contributed in the 1960s to the “intellectual identity of the Federal Republic as a Western democracy” (Klaus Schönhoven).