A Moral Authority? Günter Grass as the Conscience of the German Nation

Abstract

When it was revealed in 2006 that Günter Grass had been a member of the Waffen-SS towards the end of the World War II, critics stripped Germany's most famous contemporary writer and intellectual of his widely recognized position as “a self-designated and fearless conscience of the nation” (Fritz Stern). Against the historical background of moral authority figures in twentieth century Germany, this article examines Grass’ contributions as the nation's conscience to his country's political culture. For a start, the historical preconditions are analyzed that allowed Grass from the early 1960s onward to ascend to the public role of a moral authority figure. Second, this article then assesses to what extent this position must be regarded, on the one hand, as the result of external configurations and, on the other, as the outcome of Grass’ own aspirations to create a self-image as a moral leader. In the light of his former membership of the Waffen-SS; third, the question is addressed whether Grass’ confession has led to his “moral downfall,” as many critics have claimed, or whether he should still be regarded as a “moral compass,” as others believe. This article concludes by arguing that his recent dismissal from his position as the nation's conscience does not merely reveal widespread disenchantment with Grass but indicates, at a much wider level, a new public understanding that no longer associates the role of the writer in the twenty-first century with moral leadership.

Keywords:

• Günter Grass
• conscience of the nation
• moral authority
• moral collapse of 1945
• German unification
• critical intelligentsia

Notes

1. The figures in parentheses in the running text refer to Günter Grass: Werkausgabe, edited by Volker Neuhaus and Daniela Hermes and published in 1997 in Göttingen by Steidl. Figures before the comma give the volume number, those after the comma the page number.

2. “Geschichte in Geschichten” [interview with Günter Grass], Focus, 5 Jul 1999, http://www.focus.de/ kultur/medien/kultur-geschichte-in-geschichten_aid_179602.html (accessed 1 June 2011).

3. In addition to his wife Ute, Grass evidently also spoke to colleagues such as Robert Schindel and Peter Turrini about his former membership of the Waffen-SS. See Schindel, “Es ist ein Armutszeugnis, wie Grass behandelt wird.”

4. Jens was, at least initially, prepared to provide information when he quite plausibly pointed out, as Götz Aly has shown in a detailed analysis, that his admission into the Party probably happened without his knowledge. See Aly, “Was wusste Walter Jens?”