Heroes

The young man standing awkwardly in the kitchen of Rudi Dutschke's Berlin apartment in spring 1967, watching him tidy the books from the kitchen table, is me. Looking back over forty years, I don't recognise myself, this tall, dark-haired, diffident student. He is familiar to me only from the many photos of him which still exist. My memories of Rudi Dutschke are far more vivid. He was a man of his time, of that time – and not only because he died so young. By Gaston SalvatoreMore ...

The distinctive profile of the legendary student leader Rudi Dutschke has impressed itself upon the Germans right up to the present day. Many saw or see in Dutschke, with his talent for intellectual rhetoric and agitation, a hero of the revolution, an idol. Others regard Dutschke as a resolute opponent of liberal democracy. By Gerd LangguthMore ...

His role is unlike that of any other federal politician. His career has developed very differently from that of his fellow policymakers. Having started out as a self-taught politician, he succeeded in moving to the very top of government following a highly circuitous route. He still enjoys exceptional public popularity, and was his party's Machtpolitik engine for more than two decades. By Wolfgang KraushaarMore ...