What is the epic preterite?

Käte Hamburger – her fame – her relationships

Although she earned recognition late in life, recognition that from an academic point of view she had doubtlessly long since earned, she reached an extraordinarily large audience in the 36 years that she spent in Stuttgart. In 1989, for instance, she was awarded the "Schiller Memorial Prize" by the state of Baden-Württemberg in the New Palace in Stuttgart. Her remarkable achievements included two honorary doctorates (in Philosophy from the University of Siegen in 1980, and in Theology from the University of Göttingen in 1989). She had famous admirers such as the Weizsäckers, was awarded numerous honours by the academic world and the state, and was accompanied throughout her life by a large circle of academic friends such as Fritz Martini, Max Bense and Elisabeth Walther-Bense.

Yet during her entire lifetime, her work was dominated by her acquaintance with and admiration for Thomas Mann, whose work had often been the subject of her research.